Title
Solar Panels vs. Removing Tree Canopy (B)
This item refers to existing City of Gainesville Land Development Code provisions which may conflict with the City Commission's desire to foster economic development opportunities related to the implementation of the Solar Feed in Tariff.
Explanation
In February, 2008, a referral from the City Commission to the Community Development Committee focused upon a perceived conflict between the development of an approved residential subdivision focused on the production of solar energy and the City's existing tree canopy protection standards. Since that time, Nature and Parks staff has been working with the affected party to come up with a solution to this specific issue.
Concurrently, in light of the implementation of the Solar Feed in Tariff by Gainesville Regional Utilities in March, 2009, staff felt that this pending referral could act as a vehicle for a pro-active and broader discussion regarding other related conflicts that have been identified between a desire to fully capture economic development benefits related to Solar Feed in Tariff implementation and existing Land Development Code requirements.
The five focus areas of the Committee's discussion were as follows:
· Physical Development of Solar Fields
· Solar Installation and Tree Canopy Provisions
· Solar Installation and Wetland Provisions
· Solar Installation and Stormwater Retention Systems
· Solar Installation and Historic Preservation
The Committee's direction was twofold: 1) In more immediate terms, direct staff to bring forward a petition to the Plan Board to permit solar fields by right in those areas of the City designated as Agricultural with appropriate dimensional, environmental and life/safety/health requirements; and, 2) bring back any other needed revisions to the Land Development Code to accommodate solar development in a related omnibus petition to the Plan Board at a future time.
The Community Development Committee...
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