Sewickley Township considers solar power system regulations

With the increase in solar power farm projects in Westmoreland County, Sewickley Township is among the latest municipalities in Westmoreland County to pass or consider passing an ordinance regulating the use of solar power for homes and commercial use.

“We wanted to have something in place to protect people,” said Mark Petros, chairman of the township supervisors.

Some Sewickley residents have told the commissioners they have received solicitations from solar power companies that want to lease their property for a solar power farm, but the township does not have any regulations, Petros said. When the zoning ordinance was adopted many years ago, the construction of solar power farms was not an issue that was of any concern, he said.

Sewickley needs such an ordinance, with companies seeking to establish solar power farms, said Linda Harvey, township supervisor. There is the noise level from the solar energy systems and other aspects that can be disruptive to the community, Harvey added.

“It is necessary in order protect the people who live in that area,” Harvey said.

“We were being contacted by a lot of developers. A lot of people were wanting us to get on top of this,” said Michael Gray, township manager, who crafted the proposed ordinance from a variety of sources.

The ordinance has requirements for solar energy systems generating power for the homeowner and a section for the utility-scale solar power farms, Gray said. It addresses setback rules for how far the solar systems must be from the property line and procedures for when the solar systems are decommissioned, Gray said.

“I looked at a lot of other rural areas (with solar ordinances) and kind of fit together everything to our township,” Gray said.

The Westmoreland County planning department also reviewed the ordinance, Gray said.

Residents will get to weigh in on the proposed ordinance during the township supervisors workshop meeting at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2. The three-member board is expected to vote on the ordinance at its monthly meeting at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 16, Petros said.

Sewickley was not alone in having a zoning ordinance that does not address solar power installations.

A study of about 2,500 municipal zoning ordinances in Pennsylvania, 87% of those ordinances don’t mention solar energy at all or only mention solar without specifying where or under what circumstances it is permitted, according to a report from Mohammed Rali Badissy, an assistant professor at Penn State Dickinson Law.

Only 5% of the zoning ordinances in the state allow for solar power installations to be the principal use of the land in a zoning district, but are still subject to approval as a conditional use, the report found.

Accessory solar energy, defined as solar power generated for the property owner’s use, is permitted in just 8% of the ordinances, but subject to requirements. Installing solar panels as the principal use of the land is either implicitly or explicitly prohibited in 8% of the ordinances, according to the report.

Donegal, Derry, Fairfield and South Huntingdon townships were among municipalities in the county to pass ordinances regulating solar power development. What they have in common with Sewickley is a lot of rural area — which Gray estimates covers 80% of Sewickley.

Unity has an ordinance governing solar power development, which township residents have complained in meetings on a proposed solar power farm along Charles Houck Road, that the regulations are not strong enough.

Township Supervisor Michael O’Barto has talked about the need to strengthen the ordinance.

A poster child for what could be a solar power farm placed in a municipality without zoning, can be seen spread across a 134-acre parcel along Mansville Road in Cook Township, not far from Stahlstown. The massive solar power farm, developed by a New York firm, has been cited by opponents of the Unity project as what they don’t want to see in their municipality.

Sewickley Township needs such an ordinance, with companies seeking to establish solar power farms, said Linda Harvey, township supervisor. There is the noise level from the solar energy systems and other aspects that can be disruptive to the community, Harvey added.

“It is necessary in order protect the people who live in that area,” Harvey said.