Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Renewable Energy Ordinance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning & Zoning advances renewable‑energy ordinance work with federal technical help
Summary
Bluff Planning & Zoning continued drafting a renewable‑energy ordinance and sought technical assistance from SolSmart and training on enforcement planning; the commission also reviewed the general plan and road‑policy items.
Planning & Zoning members reported progress on a renewable‑energy ordinance and asked town staff to coordinate with technical assistance programs and the building department to ensure the code includes the information inspectors need.
Councilmember Lou, reporting from Planning & Zoning, said the commission is working on a broad renewable‑energy ordinance covering solar, wind and geothermal and is consulting SolSmart, a federally supported technical assistance program for local solar and distributed energy planning. She said code topics under review include permitted zones, maximum system sizes, rooftop and wind‑generator setbacks, sound limits, glare and viewshed concerns, and whether large installations should be conditional uses.
Lou said Planning & Zoning is also preparing comments on a general plan update from Hansen’s group and asked staff to schedule a joint session to discuss enforcement flowcharts and practical enforcement steps. “They asked that we do a group meeting at some point to figure out where we go forward on there,” Lou said, referring to enforcement guidance she attended.
Staff said they will follow up with the building department to identify the technical items that must be in the ordinance so building officials can process permits. No ordinance was adopted; the commission will meet again and continue drafting the code language.
The planning report also noted that the commission had considered lot‑division questions (under current ordinance, lots cannot be divided below a half‑acre) and the import of asset‑management IT changes such as migration to OneDrive and Zoom.
