HomeMy WebLinkAboutCA3148DATE: December 9, 2019
TO: Historic Landmark Commission
FROM: Demi Laney, Planner I
SUBJECT: A request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to install solar panels on a roof.
FILE: CA -3148
Ramon Reyna requests permission to add solar panels to the south side of his home located at
2250 Long Street. Mr. Reyna plans to attach the panels to the roof of his home. The placement
of the panels will be visible facing toward the street right-of-way. With permission, there will be
thirty-one (3 1) panels installed on the roof toward the front side of the home. The contractor has
provided a visual design concept for the exact placement of the solar panels on the roof. This
design is located in your packets.
In the article attached, the National Trust, for Historic Preservation appears to be in favor of
solar panels given they are not visible from the street.
Staff recommends approval of the solar panels being placed on the rear side of the roof, where
they will not be seen from the street right-of-way.
The house is not listed in the SPARE survey.
Exhibits are attached.
PROPERTYADRE
OWNERS NAME:
APPLICATION FORA
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BEAUMONT, TEXAS
(Chapter 30, City Codes)
(409) 880-3764
Fax: (409) 880-3133
OFFICE USE ONLY:
DATE w
ADDRESS OF OWNER:
APPLICANT NAME (IF NOT OWN,,rE��RR)�):: „„ V
APPLICANTS PHONE NUMBER: `'�.X� Up 15
FAX NUMBER:
REASON FOR REQUEST OF A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS:.!E�o l rXi nck S . on
TYPE OF REQUEST: PAINT NEW CONSTRUCTION
FENCING MISCELLANEOUS ✓
HAS REQUEST BEEN MADE BEFORE: _ CT) IF YES, DATE:
DEMO
APPLICANT SIGNATURE S DATE: //--�2
OFFICE USE ONLY:
APPROVED: YES NO
PLANNING/ ZONING OFFICIAL DATE
HISTORIC LANDM (C�OMMISION DATE
COMMENTS: ('fl . �M `U A.Q6 C- 6 on �c� -c _ q
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2/27/2019 Solar P� ' 's on Historic Properties—Technical Preservation Seg
Technical Preservation Services
u'
Home > Sustainability > New Technology > Solar Panels
Solar Panels on Historic Properties
Overview
On a New Addition
On a Flat Roof
Pole -Mounted Array_
On a Low -Slope Gable
On a Cross Gable
On a Rear Porch Roof
Avoided Impact
s, National Park Service
, ai Palk Service
V,5IlepaHrent Pfth
e Interior 10
6
Additional examples will be added to this site over time, so please check back to see more installations of solar panels on
historic properties.
haps://www.nps.gov/tps/sustainability/new-technology/solar-on-historic.htrn 1/2
ation S` - >,s, National Park Service
Installing Solar Panels and Meeting the Secretary of the Interior's Standards
Solar panels installed on a historic property in a location that cannot be seen from the ground
will generally meet the Secretary of the Interiors 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.
First Example
This installation negatively impacts the
character of this mid -twentieth century house
and does not meet the Standards. '
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMIERICe
https:/Iwww.nps.gov/tps/sustainability/new-technology/solar-on-historic.htm 2/2
Powering Historic Buildings: Solar P?F-A Projects Around the Country I Nation,` Trust for Historic Pres... Page 1 of 4
k National Trust for
fS
`Historic Preservation°
June 27, 2013
Powering Historic
Buildings: Solar Panel
Projects Around the
Country
By:
Guest Writer
Written by Chris Warren for Preservation magazine
x
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https:Hsavingplaces.org/stories/powering-historic-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country 2/1/2019
W
Pres... Page 2 of 4
[Link:
https://nthp-
savingplaces.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/07/31/15/40/29/6/130624—bIog—photo—wc-
so la r -pa nel s—mysticJ 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 Preservation [link: Imagazine]magazine, 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 under 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-many/article—abf47f3c-c48c-I I e2-bf66-00l9bb29'63f4. htm 1] that houses the
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museum's collections and some administrative offices. As is so often the case, the impetus to
https:llsavi-ugplaces.org/stories/Powering-historie-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-coLmtry 2/1/2019
Powering Historic Buildings: Solar P -1 Projects Around the Country I Nation(' -Trust for Historic Pres... Page 3 of 4
cover 43,000 square feet of the 1800s -era building with solar panels was both environmental
"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 /15/40/29/918/1306 24—b log—p h oto—wc-
so lar-panels—su n power.j pg]
This former Ford Motor Companyplant is now a SunPower Corporation facility in Richmond.
Calif x
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Elsewhere around the country, solar pa -),cdQ �zir,�i hfdinlprovide electricity to both historic
residences and commercial buildings. I RiMW31R), C I lifornia, a former Ford Motor Company
https:llsavingplaces.org/stories/Powering-historic-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country 2/1/2019
Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Pa( - 'Projects Around the Country I Nationf:'-gust 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://in habitat. com/h istoric-ford-fact'ory-transformed-into-sunpower-photovoltaics-
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.
FM4
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https:Hsavingplaces.org/stories/Powering-historie-buildings-solar-panel-proj ects-around-the-country 2/1/2019