Perrysburg Energy seeks special-use permit for solar array to power Toledo's Glass City River Wall

Perrysburg Energy asked the Toledo Zoning and Planning Committee on July 15, 2025, to refer a special-use permit application (SUP25-0014) for a solar array and battery system to the full City Council. The committee's planning commission recommended approval subject to 15 conditions and one waiver; Councilman Gattis moved to refer the matter to city council "as approved."

The company presented the project as the energy source for the Glass City River Wall, an illuminated mural along the river. Molly Thompson, representing Perrysburg Energy, told the committee the project has taken more than four years to develop and has support from the City of Toledo, Lucas County, the Port Authority, the Ohio Department of Development and private sponsors. Thompson said First Solar donated the panels and that the team plans to use union labor under a project labor agreement.

Thompson and Scott Thompson described the installation as a 204-kilowatt solar system using approximately 440 solar panels and a 180-kilowatt battery backup (numbers provided by the applicant). They said the lighting itself is not part of the special-use permit before the committee; the SUP covers the solar and battery system only. The applicant said the lighting will be off-grid at startup and that the city could later connect the system to municipal loads; the presenters said such a connection could yield an estimated $500,000 in savings to the city over a 25-year period if the city chooses to use the system to offset the Oakdale pump station load.

The applicant described a planned construction start in early September, with an estimated build time of six to eight weeks for the racking, about four weeks for panel delivery, and concurrent electrical and lighting work (the lighting installation was described as a separate permitting effort). Perrysburg Energy supplied renderings and a site plan showing the installation on property that spans land owned by the City of Toledo and an adjacent parcel owned by NSG.

Molly Thompson said the project will provide economic, environmental, social and educational benefits: she described expected tourism and local spending from nighttime visitors, reclamation of previously unused land into a sustainability project, and an "energy dashboard" to provide educational data to students. She also said the project includes a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) subcontractor (Perrysburg Energy) and partnerships with local labor and technology providers.

At the hearing the planning commission's recommendation included one waiver described in the record as "waiver of the required payment allowing grama instead"; the committee record did not clarify the meaning of "grama" or provide a text of the waived payment, and that detail will need to be confirmed prior to final council action. The planning commission recommended approval subject to 15 conditions; the transcript does not list those conditions in full during the committee hearing.

Action recorded: Councilman Gattis moved to refer SUP25-0014 to city council as approved; the transcript records the motion but does not include a roll-call vote in the committee hearing notes. The referral is scheduled for the August 12, 2025 council docket according to committee staff remarks.

The applicant said it will notify the city and the public when a ribbon-cutting is scheduled. The committee discussion and the planning commission's recommendation mean the permit will proceed to the full City Council for final action.