Somerset County Courthouse
Somerset County Courthouse is shown on Monday, May 14, 2018.
Somerset County Courthouse
Somerset County Courthouse is shown on Monday, May 14, 2018.
SOMERSET, Pa. – Somerset County has a new ordinance regulating solar facilities. But landowners planning small projects for their own use won’t have to comply with the new restrictions.
Proposed solar farms of 1,000 square feet or smaller are exempt from the law approved by the Somerset County commissioners, county Planning Director Chadd Sines said.
The county’s solar ordinance was one of several plans amended or approved in October – among them, the county’s first-ever data center ordinance.
But this also marks the first time officials have imposed countywide regulations on solar developments, Sines said.
The goal is to provide a roadmap for projects to be built responsibly, while giving some protection to neighbors – whether they are local farms, homes, churches or schools, he said.
As approved, qualified solar developments – those of more than 1,000 square feet – must be 100 yards from the nearest property line and 250 yards from the nearest occupied structure. By definition, the nearest structure could be a shed, a barn or any other assessed building, Sines said.
That regulation drew complaints from a few local residents during meetings last month, with some calling for the setback requirement to be shortened.
But Sines said that any developer planning to add a solar array on a property can build closer to a property line if their neighbor on the opposite side of that boundary signs off on it.
“If a neighbor doesn’t mind, the project can be built within a (lesser) setback,” Sines added.
Solar projects are classified between “accessory” use and “principal” use, with stricter requirements imposed on the latter.
“Accessory” projects are designed only to benefit an on-site project – such as to offset a home’s or a farm’s personal electricity costs, Sines said.
A “principal” system is used to describe projects designed to generate energy for sale into the power grid.
Systems of both types must acquire an annual permit from the county, the ordinance shows.
To comply with the county’s ordinance, project plans must be submitted to the planning commission that outline the location of solar panels or modules and setback lines.
The project’s design and installation must conform to industry standards and the Uniform Construction Code, conduct a noise study, and show that any glare from the panels does not adversely impact neighboring properties, the document adds.
Sines said screening, such as decorative fencing or natural plant barriers, must be installed to separate the property from adjacent residential neighbors.
For ground-mounted solar panels, an eight-foot perimeter fence is required.
A 25-foot-wide access road off a state or county road must also be developed to allow adequate access to and from the site, the ordinance adds.
Sines said the ordinance also puts an emphasis on ensuring that solar farms are properly dismantled and removed once they are no longer in operation.
Developers will be required to deposit a bond equal to 110% of the cost to decommission the solar farm, according to the ordinance. An engineer would be used to help determine a fair, reasonable bond amount.
“The county may adjust the required amount of the bond by resolution every three years,” the ordinance states.
Somerset County commissioners said Tuesday that they recognized many of the county’s communities have no documents on their books to ensure that solar projects are being built responsibly.
That is a reason why they included a countywide solar ordinance as part of a series of separate land-use guidelines approved last month – regulations on data centers included.
Somerset County Co-Solicitor Benjamin Carroll said that the county also wanted to be consistent about regulating large-scale developments. If the county was going to regulate data centers or wind farms for health and safety reasons, it made sense to have ordinances to regulate all large-scale developments.
Last month’s approvals included laws guiding data center, solar farm, wind and communication tower developments, some of which were previously regulated within the county’s land development ordinance. As approved, each now has its own standalone laws.
David Hurst is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TDDavidHurst and Instagram @TDDavidHurst.
The Somerset County commissioners approved an ordinance regulating data center development Tuesday.
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