Danbury zoning board approves variance for solar carports at Portuguese Cultural Center

The Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals voted Thursday to allow three solar-carport structures at the Portuguese Cultural Center to exceed the city's 15-foot height limit and reach 23.6 feet, a change the applicant said is needed for emergency-vehicle clearance and panel efficiency.

Nate Romanas, a consultant with Sunrise Solar Consulting, told the board he was representing the developer ELC and the center's owners and that the extra height and panel tilt were necessary "for safety, clearance height, emergency vehicles" and to ensure adequate energy production and snow shedding. "My name is Nate Romanas with Sunrise Solar Consulting," Romanas said at the hearing.

Board members questioned the project on several technical points, including whether the arrays have auxiliary de-icing power (they do not), how the design handles snow and ice, and whether the carports would remove parking spaces. Romanas said the design will include snow guards and that panels and tilt are expected to shed snow more readily than an asphalt roof; he also said foundations might slightly encroach into parking spaces but the spaces would remain usable. He told the board the manufacturer supplies stamped structural calculations and that the project is being designed to a regional snow-load standard of about 30 pounds per square foot.

A board member asked whether the carports could be built without the variance; Romanas said the required vertical clearance for emergency apparatus under the International Fire Code is about 13.5 feet and that, with the needed tilt and system layout, the installations would fall below that threshold without the variance. "We would not," Romanas said when asked whether they could meet clearance without the requested height.

George Souza, volunteer director of the Portuguese Cultural Center, spoke in support of the project and said it would help the nonprofit control operating costs; Souza told the board the center's electric bill runs about $8,000 a month and said the solar array would promote facility longevity and sustainability.

After closing the public hearing, a board member moved to approve application 26-0765 to increase the maximum height from 15 to 23.6 feet for the solar-carport installation "per plan submitted," saying the variance did not "adversely affect the public health, safety and welfare, and nor was it created by the applicant." The motion was seconded and the board approved the variance.

The project will proceed to the building department for permit review, where engineered plans, stamped structural calculations, snow and wind loads, and geotechnical findings will be reviewed as part of standard inspections. Romanas said the project team has completed geotechnical borings and will supply soils and foundation information to the building department as part of the permit package.

The board also continued an unrelated application for 2601 Cornell Road to the next regular meeting. The variance approval for the Portuguese Cultural Center is final as of the board vote and will be implemented through the building-permit process.