The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCA3007DATE: March 11, 2019 TO: Historic Landmark Commission FROM: Adina Ward, Senior Planner SUBJECT: Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to install solar panels on a roof. FILE: CA -3007 STAFF REPORT Greg Busceme, Sr. would like to add solar panels on the south side of his home located at 2495 McFaddin Avenue. Mr. Busceme plans to attach the panels to the roof of his home. The property is a corner lot and the rear yard would be visible from the side street. Solar panels would be installed on every portion of the roof except that part facing the front yard. As discussed in an attached article, the National Trust seems to be in favor of solar panels as long as they are not visible from the street. At the February Historic Landmark Commission meeting, the applicant stated that there were laws that do not allow restriction of solar panel placement. Our research has not revealed any State or Federal law that preempts local government from controlling the use of these panels. Staff recommends approval of the solar panels being placed on the east side of the rear gable, where they will not be visible from an abutting street. The house is not listed in the SPARE survey. Exhibits are attached. APPLICATION FORA CERTMCA'fE OFAPPROPRIATENESS BEAUMONT, TEXAS (Chapter 30, qty Codes) - f&101 QQfi-l'TKA - Fax.- (409) 880-3133 FILE 9. - RE (PLEASE TYPE ORPRINI) DATE CLWED. 0 PROPERTYA-DIDRENS OWNER'S NAS 6 . c-, T/yl ADDRESS OF OWNER APPLICANT'S NAME (IF NOT OWNER) APPLICANT'S PHONE NUMBER FAX NVAMER LEGAL DESCJWTION; LOT NO. OR TRACT—�— BLOCKzea. PLAT� ADDITION— SURVEY-- ---. REASON FOR REQUEST OFA CERTIFICATE OFA-PPROPRMENESS- <'b L. 4 g _, 00r HAS REQUEST BEEN MADE BEFORE (YJN) IF YES, DATE: TYPE OF REQUE8T.- PAINT NEW CONSTRUCTION DEMOL1110N CELL 0 FENCING us SIGNATURE OFAPPLICANTIOWNER:,4�1 DATE: APPROVED., YES NO -PLANNING MANAGER IRATE DATE— ULU k-J-d,uuKC0MwSSl0N COYRAENTS: 2/27/2019 Solar Panels on Historic Properties—Technical Preservation Services, National Park Service National Park service Technical Preservation Services us, Pepartment of the Interior Home > sustainability > New —Technology > Solar Panels Solar Panels on Historic Properties Overview On a New Addition On a Flat Roof Pole -mounted ArrAV On a Low -Slope Gable On a Cross Gable On a Rear Porch Roof Avoided Impact Additional examples will be added to this site over time, so please check back to see more installations of solar panels on historic properties. https://www.nps.gov/tps/sustainability/new-technology/solar-on-historic.htm 1/2 2/27/2019 Solar Panels on Historic Properties—Technical Preservation Services, National Park Service Solar panels installed on a historic property in a location that cannot be seen from the ground will generally meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Conversely, an installation that negatively impacts the historic character of a property will not meet the Standards. But what about the grey area between out–of–sight and obviously obtrusive installations? Although every project is different and must be evaluated on its own merit, the National Park Service has developed this guidance on how to apply the Standards to the installation of solar panels. This "invisible" installation of solar panels on a historic industrial building—hidden behind a low parapet—meets the Standards for Rehabilitation. This installation negatively impacts the character of this mid -twentieth century house and does not meet the Standards. ' EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA'S https://www.nps.govltps/sustainability/new-technology/solar-on-historic.htm 2/2 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Pres... Page I of 4 OPINES 0/111, National Trustjbi, Vr, Histic Preservation* VP June 27, 2013 Power*ing H*istori*c Bu*iId*inqs.o Solar Panel Proi'oects Around the Country By: Guest Writer Written by Chris Warren for Preservation magazine FAV join today to help save places that matter. JOIN NOW https:Hsavingplaces.org/stories/Powering-historie-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country 2/1/2019 Powering, Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Pres... Page 2 of 4 https://nthp- [Link: savingplaces.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/07/31/15/40/29/6/130624—blog—photo—wc- so la r -pa ne I s—mysti c.j pg] Solar panel installation at Mystic Seaport, Collections Research Center. The brick parapet is visible in the background. As covered in the Summer 2013 issue of Preservatic)n [L/nk.-Imagazinejmagazine, it would be hard to come up with a more high-profile and historically significant place to install solar panels than Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. But as the price of solar panels and equipment continues to fall and people generally get more comfortable with this source of clean energy, it no longer requires a large chunk of federal dollars (which was the case with Alcatraz) and years of effort for historic buildings to tap the sun to meet their electricity needs. For instance, this past winter and spring the Mystic Seaport [Link: http://www.mysticseaport.org/] in Connecticut installed a 230 -kilowatt solar power- plant -- just Linder 1,000 panels -- on the roof of an old mill building [Link: http://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/solar-power-system-helps-to-preserve-mystic- x sea port -s -ma ny/article—a bf47f3c-c48c-I I e2-bf66-0019 bb29'63f4. htm 1] that houses the join today to help save,Iaces that matter. museum's collections and some administrative of ces. As is so often the case, the impetus to JOIN NOW https:Hsavingplaces.org/stories/Powering-historie-buildings-solar-panel-projects-a,round-the-country 2/1/2019 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Pres... Page 3 of 4 cover 43,000 square feet of the 1800s -era building with solar panels was both environmental and economic. "It will generate 10 percent of the power the mill uses," says Ken Wilson, the director of facilities at the Seaport, who notes that the electricity produced will be cheaper than what would otherwise be available from the utility. "And it's an attempt to move in a more green direction." At the Seaport, Wilson says the museum worked closely with the town of Stonington to address any historic preservation concerns. The main issue was whether or not the panels could be seen. In this case, it was not a problem because the building still had an original brick parapet shielding the panels from view. [Link: https://nthp- savingplaces.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/07/31 /15/40/29/918/130624_blog_ph oto—wc- solar-panels—sunpower.jpg] This former Ford Motor Company plant is now a SunPower Corporation facility In Richmond, Calif. x Join today to help save places that matter. Elsewhere around the country, solar pa[ provide electricity to both historic residences and commercial buildings. I lifornia, a former Ford Motor Company https:llsavingplaces.org/stories/Powering-historie-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country 2/1/2019 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Pres... Page 4 of 4 Assembly Plant that churned out Model A cars in the 1930s is not only covered with solar panels, it has also become a facility for SunPower Corporation [Link: http://inhabitat.com/historic-ford-factory-transformed-into-sunpower-p'hotovoltaics- headquarters/] , one of the leading makers of panels. In Bethesda, Maryland, a local landmark known as the Sycamore Store added solar panels [Link: http://montgomeryplanning.org/blog-design/?p=2537] in such a way that they are actually visible from the street. Clearly, individual circumstances and concerns about the impact of transforming an historic building into a solar power plant are highly specific -- sometimes it's appropriate, and sometimes it's not. But the sort of give and take that goes into these decisions is hardly foreign to the companies that install solar panels, accustomed as they are to customers who voice their opinion about a project's visual impact. "We in the solar industry are well-prepared to deal with these things," says Gary Gerber, president of California-based Sun Light & Power. "We have run into these situations enough that it's not far out of our wheelhouse." Have a story idea that might be interesting and engaging for a national audience? Email us at editorial@savingplaces.org. DR IJOIN NOW https:llsavingplaces.org/stories/Powering-historie-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country 2/1/2019