Warrington supervisors ask zoning board to require decommissioning plan for St. Anne's solar arrays

The Warrington Board of Supervisors on July 8 reviewed a special-exception request from St. Anne's Ukrainian Catholic Church to install two ground-mounted solar arrays on a 3-acre R-2 property and asked that the Zoning Hearing Board require a decommissioning and site-restoration plan as part of any approval.

Township staff said the proposed arrays meet the zoning ordinance's setback and height requirements and would be at least 15 feet from property lines and public roads. The plan also showed the arrays would not exceed the 15-foot height limit and that the proposed layout would comply with building and lot-coverage rules for the R-2 district.

However, supervisors raised concerns about long-term ownership and the eventual life cycle of the panels. Chair said he had read reports that grid-tied solar units typically have 20-25 years of useful life and that decommissioning language should be explicit. "I wanna make a motion that we make sure that the decommissioning and the grid scale installation is included in part of the... agreement to put those solar panels in," the chair said.

Board members and staff discussed what decommissioning means in this context: removing above-ground mounting structures and restoring grade where necessary. One supervisor suggested the township should require a condition of approval; staff confirmed the board can request that the Zoning Hearing Board include such a condition. The board reached consensus to call the issue to the Zoning Hearing Board's attention and to request a decommissioning/long-term maintenance condition when forwarding the application.

What happens next: the township will forward the application and the board's concerns to the Zoning Hearing Board, with a request that any approval be conditioned on a decommissioning plan and related maintenance assurances.