Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utica council adopts moratorium on large battery storage facilities while zoning and safety rules drafted
Summary
The Common Council voted unanimously to impose a temporary moratorium on battery storage facilities citywide while staff draft zoning language and public-safety requirements, citing gaps in the current zoning code and safety concerns.
The Utica Common Council on Monday adopted a moratorium on large battery storage facilities in the city while staff draft zoning and safety regulations. A representative from the city Law Department told the council the department had been approached “3 separate times within the last few months, by developers looking to establish battery storage facilities, on vacant lots throughout the city, in different zoning districts.”
The moratorium, approved by an 8-0 roll call, pauses new applications for what staff described as large “bulk storage” installations made from shipping-container-like units that store electricity and discharge it during peak demand. The Law Department representative said the city’s zoning code is currently “silent on this kind of usage” and recommended a moratorium while the council considers where such facilities would be allowed and what public-safety requirements would apply. “NYSERDA does have a model law which we’ll largely use principally for this,” the Law Department representative said.
The nut graf: Council members said the pause is intended to give staff time to craft clear local rules rather than address proposals piecemeal through hearings or ad hoc approvals. The moratorium allows the city to define the appropriate zoning districts for large battery systems and to prescribe safety, inspection and setback standards before additional projects proceed.
Council discussion (questions and brief comments recorded in the transcript) emphasized two points: the installations described by staff are distinct from rooftop batteries for individual buildings and resemble consolidated, freight-containerized battery banks on vacant lots; and state-level incentives and support for battery storage have increased developer interest. The Law Department representative summarized the likely local approach: put the moratorium in place, draft zoning and safety language (largely based on the NYSERDA model), then return to council for review and a future vote.
Formal action: the council voted to introduce and adopt the moratorium ordinance; the roll call recorded “8 yays adopted.” The moratorium’s duration and next steps will be set when council and staff return with draft zoning text and any proposed safety standards. No specific timeline for those drafts was provided in the meeting.
What happened next: the council’s clerk recorded the ordinance’s adoption on the meeting minutes; staff will prepare draft regulations for committee review and for later action by the council.
