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Council approves first readings of three land-use ordinances, including easing rule on front-facing solar panels
Summary
The Westfield Town Council approved first readings of three land-use ordinances affecting rooftop solar, front-yard setbacks in the GB-2 business district and a voluntary green-development checklist.
The Westfield Town Council approved three land-use ordinances on first reading that together change local rules on rooftop solar, front-yard setbacks in one business zone and a voluntary green-development checklist.
Ordinance 2025-03 would remove certain restrictions on mounting solar panels on roofs that face a public street; if the ordinance survives the planning-board review it will return to the council for final action. Council members discussed removing an older color-matching requirement that had required solar panels to match roof color; Councilwoman Hapgood said she supported removing the color barrier while voicing caution about eliminating all installation standards. "I do think that it doesn't make sense to prevent someone who's interested in moving to renewable energy sources from proceeding with them just over a color mismatch," Hapgood said. Other council members and committee sponsors said the provisions proposed for removal are largely obsolete because modern installations are flush mounted and have no exposed wiring.
Council members also approved on first reading ordinance 2025-04, which would change the front-yard setback requirement in the GB-2 General Business District to allow buildings to be sited 15 to 25 feet closer to the public right-of-way. The change is intended to encourage development closer to the street in portions of the GB-2 zone that lie between Garwood and Central avenues along North Avenue and South Avenue.
The third ordinance (2025-05) would update and expand the town's green building checklist to be more comprehensive and to apply to land disturbance over 200 square feet; the checklist is voluntary and intended to promote green-infrastructure awareness among developers.
All three ordinances were approved on first reading by roll call votes at the meeting and will be referred to the planning board (where applicable) for review before the council considers final adoption.
