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Another municipality is proposing legislation regarding rooftop solar panels on residential homes, this time in Clarkson Valley.
In December, a four-month moratorium went into effect on the acceptance and review of applications for solar energy systems pending the study and review of policies.
An attempt to extend the moratorium was proposed in March but that failed, so it ended April 1.
The city is considering new legislation as well. 
Earlier this month, the Planning & Zoning Commission voted 4-2 on the following recommendation: Solar energy collectors shall be located on the back or side-facing roof. Systems may not be located on front facing roofs of the primary or accessory structure. The plane of the solar panel or profile cannot be visible from the street frontage.
In cases of corner lots or lots with more than one street frontage, the side roof fronting a street shall be considered a front-facing roof.
The exception is that solar energy collectors can be installed on front-facing roofs when the front-facing roof is not in line of sight or visible from the street frontage due to elevation, topography or berms.
The two dissenting commission members recommended removing restrictions on where panels can be placed, said Clarkson Valley City Administrator/City Clerk Megan Eldridge.
Longtime solar energy proponent Frances Babb believes the city is taking a step backwards.
“We have solar homes with front facing panels now that are not centered or symmetrical,” she said. “Requiring arrays to be centered and symmetrical on a roof plane will significantly shrink energy production as much as 50%. This has a negative effect on property values and will be a hindrance to folks that want to install batteries.”
Babb says most homes in Clarkson Valley are on one-acre lots or less and don’t meet the requirement for ground mounts. Even when allowed, they can be no taller than 10 feet, she said.
She pointed out that every home and every lot is different.
“It’s going to cause a lot of hard feelings when one home is denied the best position of their system, while a nearby house facing another way is allowed to use their best roof, even though both houses have equal visibility from a road,” she said.
Wildwood went through a similar ordeal with its solar panel regulations. 
After numerous requests for conditional use permits to install front-facing solar panels on rooftops were received, the city adopted similar legislation in November 2023 to allow front-facing panels but with regulations.
First, a permit application must be submitted to the Planning Department.
Then, when located on a sloped roof, building-mounted solar energy collectors must be positioned in a symmetrical fashion, centered on the plane of the roof, installed parallel to the roof slope, and not projected vertically above the peak of the sloped roof.
In addition, solar energy collectors must show reflectivity of less than 30% or placed so that concentrated sunlight or glare will not be directed onto nearby properties or streets.
Ground-mounted solar energy systems are prohibited.
Another resident, Pat Wood, believes that since the solar panels on his home are uniform in color, they are not as noticeable.
“Is black glass worse to look at than asphalt shingles?” he asks. “It’s not as if people are painting bright, yellow smiley faces on their roofs.”
Eldridge said that she is still preparing the legislation for the Board of Aldermen that will be introduced at the June 2 meeting.
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