Ordinance scheduled to be introduced Dec. 6
By Jane Meggitt, Special Writer
UPPER FREEHOLD Anyone considering installing a ground-mounted solar array will be required to have at least a 3-acre lot and appropriate setbacks if a planned ordinance is approved next month.
At the Nov. 15 Township Committee meeting, the governing body decided that the ordinance, set to be introduced Dec. 6, will only permit ground-mounted solar arrays on larger lots with 60-foot setbacks for the rear and side yards.
Residents with properties under 3 acres can put solar panels on the roof or seek a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment for ground-mounted arrays. A commercial property owner seeking to install a ground-mounted solar array would have to file a site plan review.
Committeemen Steve Alexander, Bob Frascella and Bob Faber supported the proposal while Mayor LoriSue Horsnall Mount opposed it.
”I think it is too limiting, and we’re being way too ‘Big Brother-ish,’” Ms. Mount said.
Committeeman Stanley Moslowski Jr. was absent.
The township currently has no ordinances regarding residential or commercial solar systems. The committee discussed recommendations made by the Planning Board, but, as Township Attorney Granville Michael Magee pointed out, it is the Township Committee that must make the final decision.
Ms. Mount said the sample ordinance, submitted by Planning Board Attorney Dennis Collins, was based on how other municipalities dealt with the issue. While Mr. Collin’s proposed ordinance used a 3-acre minimum basis for ground-mounted solar arrays on residential lots, it also had only 20-foot setback requirements.
Mr. Alexander said he was concerned that someone with a primarily wooded 10-acre lot would install a ground-mounted solar array away from the trees in a cleared area close to a neighbor’s house.
Mr. Frascella said that after an earlier proposal from the Planning Board, he had asked for a buffer area, which was added in the updated document, but did not address management issues. After discussion, he agreed a 60-foot setback would work as part of a buffer.
Municipal Clerk Dana Tyler got Construction Official Ron Gafgen on the phone during the meeting so the governing body could ask him questions. Mr. Gafgen said there are between 10 to 20 ground-mounted solar arrays in township subdivisions, and he has never received a complaint about them.
If the ordinance is introduced at the Dec. 6 meeting, the public hearing and adoption vote could be held at either the Dec. 20 Township Committee meeting, which begins at 6 p.m., or at the Jan. 3, 2013 meeting before the governing body officially reorganizes, according to Township Administrator Dianne Kelly.

