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Home My WebLink AboutPZ2021-96DATE: April 12,2021 TO: Historic Landmark Commission FROM: Demi Laney, Senior Planner SUBJECT: A request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to install solar panels on a roof. FILE: PZ2021-96 STAFF REPO12f Gage Mueller, the applicant, requests permission to add solar panels to the front side of the home located at 2394 Calder Avenue. Mr. Mueller 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 seventeen (17) 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. The owner of the property, Charles Thomas, currently has stop work orders posted for the existing accessory structure in the rear of the property. In 2018 Mr. Thomas received two (2) stop work orders (SWO). The first SWO was posted January 31, 2018 because he renovated the structure and installed a sewer line without the necessary permits pulled from neither the Planning Department nor the Building Codes Department. The second SWO was posted on September 21, 2018 because Mr. Thomas demolished one half of the structure and then rebuilt the structure with recycled materials from the demo; again without the benefit of necessary permits. Due to the use of the recycled materials a third party structural engineer must be hired to approve the structure's stability. Additionally, the demolition of the structure disrupts his existing legal nonconforming setbacks and will need to also be brought into compliance with Chapter 28 of our City's code of ordinances. This structure has remained red tagged since 2018 and no effort has been made to resolve this issue. Staff recommends denial of the request until the property has come into compliance. The house is not listed in the SPARE survey. Exhibits are attached. Case Typu:Monningand Zoning Case Status: REVIEW Case Sub Type: Certificate ^[Appropriateness Tag Narne:Solar Panel install Case MPZ2021-86 Initiated On: 3/24/2021 13:09:42PyN Individuals listed cmthe record: Applican� Gage Mueller 5148Anapo Houston, TX77098 69Q!Lt Gage Mueller 5146Gnape Houston, TX 77096 Property Owner Charles Thomas 2394Calder Avenue Beaumont, TX777U2 Home Phone: 8326685y81 Work Phone: Cell Phone: 832721233U E'MaU:gmueUer@thepnocompan|ww.tom Home Phone: 83288857Q1 Work Phone: Cell Phone: Home Phone: 4OU2i2Q1O8 Work Phone: Cell Phone: 832G871O9A Reason for Request ofmCertificate of Solar panel install onfront of home Appropriateness Paint N New Construction N Uamu N Fencing N Miscellaneous N Has request been made before? N If yes, date: Fees Assessed: DESCRIPTION AMOu�T��TOUTSTANDING Certificate ofAppropriateness $20J00 $20.00 $0.00 Date: 03/24/2O21.Waived: false Total Fees Due: $0.00 Notes: Case Type: Planning and Zoning Page 1m1 3/30/2021 Mail - Derni Laney - Outlook ;a �, _ wr M •� Ir \.,. i' F https:lloutlook.ofce.comlmaillinboxlidlAAQkADVhYTVkOD13LTNkY2UtNDkyMS04OWQzLW iwZTk3ZjgyNGJiYwAQAGiWE4KTTPBFrz9VE6OxEbo%3DIsxslAAMkADVhYTV kOD13LTNkY2UtN DkyMSO... 11l 41512021 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Preservation `may National TTr sor -1 RAT Historic Psap June 27, 2013 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Pane� Projects Around 'Y By: Guest Writer Written by Chris Warren for Preservation magazine [Link- https-.//nthp- savingplaces.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/07/31/15/40/29/6/130624-bIog-photo-wc-solar-panels-mystic.j'pg] https:llsavingplaces.org/storieslpowering-historic-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country#.YGtjhehKiUk 1 /4 4/512021 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Preservation Solar parcel installation at Mystic Seaport Collections Research Center. The brick parapet is visible in the background. As covered in the Summer 2013 issue of 'r Link: Imagazinelmagazine 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 v i rt [Link: http://www.mysticseaport.org/] in Connecticut t,' 'ti,..3 _d3 ask,} _.-c___z...�m... ar �Ji`-.Pr "'"g ._..,v �C � 7,�e,:. ,�� oar:�,.� �� e,�, ��f � 5_.. �.e ��-, � _as [Link. http://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/solar-power-system-helps-to-preserve-mystic-seaport-s- many/article_abf47f3c-c48c-lle2-bf66-0019bb2963f4.htmlj that houses the museum's collections and some administrative offices. As is so often the case, the impetus to 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. https:llsavingplaces.org/storieslpower ng-historic-buildings-solar-Panel-projects-around-the-country#.YGtjhehKiUk 214 41512021 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Preservation [Link: https://nthp- saving places. s3.amazonaws.com/2015/07/31/15/40/29/918/130624-blog-photo-wc-solar- panels-sunpower.jpg] This former Ford Motor Company plant is now a Sun Power Corporation facility in Richmond, Calif. Elsewhere around the country, solar panels are helping provide electricity to both historic residences and commercial buildings. In Richmond, California, a former Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant that churned out Model A cars in the 1930s is not only covered with solar panels, lad-s alSO become- alf-a-61it-v, for Suntier (-o-Dcmn---n [Link: http://inhabitat.com/historic-forci-factory-transformed-into-sunpower-photovoltaics- headquarters/] , one of the leading makers of panels. In Bethesda, Maryland, a lo ad landmark lKinown as e re ire3-dOed So*8ff -Da—Is [Link: http://montgomeryplanning.o-g/blog-design/?p=2537] in such a way that they are actually visible from the street. frZONTIfol I I I III I � � I I� I � III I � 111 11111 1 1 111 111 111 11111 111 111 1111 'I'll III 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 projects visual impact. hftps:llsaVingplaces.org/stories/powering-historic-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country#.YGtjhehKiUk 3/4 415/2021 Powering Historic Buildings: Solar Panel Projects Around the Country I National Trust for Historic Preservation "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. https:ffsavingplaces.org/stories/powering-historic-buildings-solar-panel-projects-around-the-country#.YGtjhehKiUk 4/4