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Item No. 14 <br />memorandum <br />TO: Mayor and City Council <br />John Godwin, City Manager <br />FROM: Alan Efrussy, AICP, Planning Manager <br />SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING DEFINITION OF A SOLAR FARM AND <br />ALLOWABLE ZONING DISTRICTS AND REGULATIONS <br />DATE: January 4, 2017 <br />BACKGROUND: Presently we do not have a definition for Solar Farms and therefore do not <br />have a Zoning Ordinance inclusion regarding a district(s) where said use could be located and <br />regulated. On April 11, 2016, the council held a public hearing and tabled this item indefinitely, <br />and requested that staff provide more information regarding electric generation, any health <br />hazards, indicating larger areas for solar farms, and consideration if solar farm applications <br />would be heard by the City Council. On January 3, 2017, a public hearing was held before the <br />Commission and the enclosed data are a response to the council's tabling. At that January 3 <br />Commission meeting, no one spoke either in favor of or in opposition to this request. The <br />commission voted 4/0 to recommend approval of the request to the City Council. <br />(Commissioner Bray abstained stating that he had a conflict regarding this project). <br />STATUS OF ISSUE: The staff finds the following: <br />A) Definition of a Solar Farm: A solar farm is defined as the components and subsystems <br />required to convert solar energy into electric or thermal energy suitable to supply <br />merchant power to the electric grid. The area of the system includes all the land inside <br />the perimeter of the system, which extends to any fencing, land area required for <br />setbacks, landscaping and signage. This term applies, but is not limited to, solar <br />photovoltaic (PV) systems and solar thermal systems. This term does not apply to roof <br />mounted on any code — compliant structure, ground mounted and in compliance with <br />necessary structure provisions as shall be contained within the City of Paris Zoning <br />Ordinance, or any building integrated solar (i.e., shingle, hanging solar, canopy). <br />B) Recommendation Regarding Zoning Ordinance Districts: The staff recommends that the <br />review and approval of solar farm applications be considered only through the Specific <br />