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Cochise County building official reports steady permits, rise in solar projects; decommissioning plans required for large arrays
Summary
The county building official reported steady single-family permit activity (about 22 new permits per month), growth in large solar and battery-energy-storage projects, and said commercial solar applicants must submit decommissioning plans.
Paul, the county building official, reported steady permit activity and a notable increase in solar projects during his department's report.
Paul said new single-family residential permits average about 22 per month and that commercial permit activity has remained steady. "We're still doing inspections... we're having about 22 new single family residential permits a month," he said.
He said the county is seeing multiple larger-acreage solar projects, particularly in northern parts of the county, and that many commercial solar applications now include battery energy storage systems. He said applicants for large commercial solar projects are required to submit a decommissioning plan as part of their application to ensure sites are reclaimed at end-of-life and that the county requires assurances so developers cannot simply walk away from decommissioning obligations.
Board members asked whether water-management constraints connected to active management areas are influencing solar land use; Paul and others noted that solar is a lower-water land use relative to irrigated agriculture and that water-management designations (Douglas AMA and local discussions around Wilcox) are affecting development choices in some areas.
Ending: Paul said there were no other large projects to report beyond the solar activity described; the board moved next to identifying building-code review as the feature agenda item for its next meeting.
