BIRMINGHAM — To help save on energy costs, some Birmingham residents are looking into installing renewable energy sources, like solar panels, on their homes.
“A number of people have called and wanted to install different solar panels, and other things, and we want to help them by avoiding any kind of obstacles,” said Birmingham City Planner Jill Robinson.
In the recent months and weeks, Robinson said, there has been an increase in the demand for all things sustainable. As sustainable practices gain momentum in the city, the Planning Division thought it would be proactive to insert a section on solar panels into the development standards section of the city’s zoning ordinance to promote and encourage sustainable building practices while removing any avoidable obstacles to property owners.
“We thought it would be proactive because we had a lot of phone calls and we wanted to make sure that aesthetics were addressed,” Robinson said.
The ordinance states that integrated solar panels — which look like they’re built into the roof — are permitted, while non-integrated solar panels are only permitted on rear- and side-facing roofs — roofs that don’t face the streets. The solar panels cannot project over the peak of the roof and can only project five feet above a flat roof. The ordinance also says panels cannot project higher than the permitted building height without a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Residents and businesses interested in installing solar panels on a historic structure will need to go through a design review at the Historic District Commission.
“Anyone who wants to put solar panels in (a non-historic structure), either residential or commercial, will go to the Planning Board if you can see it from the street. If they want to put it on the rear or side of their buildings and you can’t see it from the street, they can do that with just a building permit process,” Robinson said.
Those interested will have to fill out a design review application, provide specification sheets and pictures that show what it’s going to look like when it’s installed on the building and how it’s going to be attached to the roof, and provide a rendering from the street of what it’s going to look like.
“It’s something that a lot of people are probably going to be concerned about in a neighborhood … but there will be notice, just like anything else, so if the neighbors are concerned, they could come and speak to us,” Robinson said.
The ordinance, which was adopted by the City Commission March 23 with a 6-1 vote, marks the city’s first foray into development standards for renewable energy sources. Previously, there was nothing within the zoning ordinance that prohibited solar electric system, but there was also nothing that promoted their use.
Commissioner Gordon Rinschler said the ordinance was a good idea.
“Right now we have no control at all, so we will leave here tonight with something,” Rinschler said at the meeting.
Although technology is advancing, Commissioner Tom McDaniel said, the aesthetics of the solar panels — which he said are not things of beauty — are not.
“I agree with the ordinance, but I really think that we should make it administrative approval except for historic structures. … I think it’s the wrong place to go to settle these issues,” he said.
Birmingham resident Dorothy Conrad also voiced concerns with the way the ordinance was written so that only time an applicant’s solar panel plan would get a review and notification to the neighbors is if the panels are on the front of a house.
“You’re more apt to be impacted by it if you’re living in a house where they do it on the back end. It’s what you look at all the time out in your backyard, more so than in the street. … I think just starting out, you’re safer by at least having reviews by the Planning Board and the Historic District Commission, but just to pass over a review and no notification to the neighbors, I don’t think it’s a very good idea,” she said.
Officials said additional alternative energy ordinance amendments would likely follow, creating guidance for proper installation and aesthetics within the city.
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