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Planning commission approves roof-mounted solar on Crystal Lakes-area home
Summary
Lake County Planning Commission approved site plan review file 25-09 to allow a 25-panel, roof-mounted solar energy system on a 29-acre parcel at 10011 South Highway 24 in Leadville, finding the installation consistent with the scenic conservation overlay and county standards.
The Lake County Planning Commission on a unanimous vote approved file 25-09, a site-plan-review application to install a roof-mounted solar energy system at 10011 South Highway 24 in Leadville.
Staff told the commission the 29-acre parcel, which sits just south of the Crystal Lakes Recreation Area and is surrounded by U.S. Forest Service and state trust lands, received an earlier site-plan approval in 2020 and a single-family home was constructed in 2021. The new application would place 25 Q Cells panels on south-facing sections of the lower roof. Staff estimated the panels would cover roughly 528 square feet (about 75% of the identified roof area), remain below the roofline, have non-reflective/anti-glare coatings and produce about 50% of the household’s annual electricity demand.
County staff reviewed the application against the Lake County Land Development Code’s site-plan criteria, the scenic conservation overlay (SEO) district standards and the county’s solar-energy design standards and recommended approval without conditions. Staff said the panels would be difficult to see from southbound Highway 24 except at a distance of roughly one mile in places where the road approaches a low viewpoint and that the panels’ dark color would blend with the existing gray roof.
Planning commissioners asked clarifying questions about visibility and mounting and then closed the public hearing before moving to approve the application. In the motion approving file 25-09, the commission found the proposal in substantial conformance with the Lake County comprehensive plan and applicable code provisions, and consistent with neighboring land uses. The commission recorded the approval and completed related site-plan findings.
Votes at the hearing were recorded by roll call and were all recorded in the affirmative. The approval authorizes the installation of the roof-mounted accessory solar energy system as described in file 25-09; no additional ground-mounted equipment or new structures were approved.
