Eagan council approves setback variance for Pilot Knob Animal Hospital rooftop solar
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Summary
The Eagan City Council approved a 5.5-foot variance to the city's 10-foot rooftop setback to allow greater rooftop solar at Pilot Knob Animal Hospital, with conditions and a note that a related plan development amendment must be finalized.
The Eagan City Council on March 18 approved a variance allowing Pilot Knob Animal Hospital to place rooftop solar panels 5.5 feet closer to the roof edge than Eagan's 10-foot zoning requirement.
The variance applies to the commercial property at 4145 Knob Drive and was requested so the hospital could expand its rooftop solar array. Mike Schultz, the city's director of planning, told the council the state building code requires a four-foot rooftop setback while the city code requires 10 feet, and the applicant had argued the larger city setback would reduce usable roof area and solar production.
"With the 10-foot rooftop setback only 17% of the total roof area could be used for solar panels as compared to 54% with the 4-foot setback," Schultz said, summarizing the applicant's practical-difficulty argument. Danielle DeMar of All Energy Solar, the project applicant, told the council a 10-foot setback "would really hinder this project" and that the reduced area would cut the system's potential size by roughly a third.
Council members discussed compliance with both state and city rules. Councilor Bracken flagged a potential interior-pathway issue in the project plans, noting the Minnesota administrative rules require "a pathway of not less than 4 feet wide in a straight line to all roof standpipes or ventilation hatches," and said the submitted plan appeared to lack such a pathway. Staff responded that the building-permit review would flag and require correction of any state-code interior-pathway noncompliance prior to final permitting.
Planning staff also noted a separate plan-development (PD) amendment associated with a 2020 building addition had not been fully executed; the approval includes a condition that the PD amendment be recorded and completed. The council approved the variance with five standard conditions attached, and the motion to adopt the variance was moved by Council Member Fields, seconded, and carried when the council voted in favor.
The applicant said the proposed array would offset about 40 percent of the site's energy consumption. The council and staff emphasized that final compliance with Minnesota building code provisions would be checked during the building permit process and that the applicant may need to revise panel placement to accommodate interior-pathway requirements.
The variance aligns with Eagan's stated sustainability goals, staff said, and the council indicated openness to considering whether city commercial setbacks should be adjusted to align with state building-code standards for rooftop solar.
The council's formal action authorizes the rooftop solar installation as described in the project materials, subject to the five conditions outlined in the planning report and the completion and recording of the outstanding PD amendment.
