Portsmouth solar panels debate heats up: 'Climate emergency' vs. historic 'appearance'

PORTSMOUTH — A proposal to eliminate the city Historic District Commission’s power to approve or reject solar arrays clearly touched a nerve and led to a variety of comments from the public, commissioners and the City Council.

City Councilors Josh Denton and Rich Blalock made the proposal to change the rules governing the HDC.

They have proposed adding a statement saying “the review of solar energy panels is not within the purview of the Historic District Commission’s powers and duties.”

The councilors sought to take away the HDC’s decision on solar arrays in the historic district after two applications were recently rejected.

Denton stated Monday it was not lost on him that “instead of snow for the week just before Christmas, it was over 50 degrees today, and we are under both a coastal flood watch and a wind watch.”

He asked the city Legal Department to review the proposed rules change to make sure it aligns with state statues and Portsmouth ordinances.

“When it comes to what I value more, the historic district’s particular character or … making sure the owners of houses were allowed to install solar if they wanted to, I would lean toward the latter,” he said about the proposal.

Councilor calls move 'disrespectful' to HDC

City Councilor Vince Lombardi, a former chair of the HDC, stated the proposal “was never presented to the HDC, and actually they found out about it by reading the paper.”

He pointed out the HDC works “from a book of guidelines, which is available to residents.”

And he called the proposal “a blunt instrument that ignores the many approvals of solar panels that the HDC has approved.”

He added Denton and Blalock's initiative was “a little disrespectful to the commissioners who volunteer their considerable time.”

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Councilor cites 'climate emergency'

But City Councilor Andrew Bagley said he supported the proposal and added he would also support an initiative to take away the HDC’s jurisdiction over windows in the historic district.

“I think it’s a little bit crazy in a climate emergency that we are preventing people from providing green energy to their homes … based on looks and appearance,” Bagley said.

He cautioned against suggestions to slow action on the idea.

“The EV chargers we were going to look at at the beginning of our first council term, and we have made almost no progress on those,” he said.

For residents who have to appear before the HDC, “it’s a cumbersome process, it’s an intimidating process,” Bagley said.

“I hear time and time again from residents who present that it seems like the developers are getting a break,” Bagley said.

He believes the developers are simply familiar with the process, and can hire attorneys, architects and engineers before going before the HDC or other city land-use boards.

“When a resident presents to a board, it may be the only time they ever present, they may not like to speak in public,” he said. “It just seems to me that this is a no brainer to put sustainability and our electric grid ahead of appearance."

Because Monday’s meeting was the last one in the council’s term, they took no formal action on the proposal. All nine councilors will begin a new term in January.

Denton is expected to bring it up again at the council's Jan. 16 meeting, the first regular meeting in their new term.

Resident denied solar panels calls HDC decision 'very subjective'

New Castle Avenue resident Anne Moodey recounted at this week’s council meeting how her application to put a solar array on the back of her home was rejected by the HDC by a 4-3 vote.

She stated that she respects the historic district and wants it to “retain its historic value.”

“I’m also a firm believer in being able to progress forward and do the things that I feel like are good and responsible for the environment and the community as a whole,” she said.

The HDC's decision to reject her application appeared “very subjective” to Moodey.

“This definitely just feels like it was a judgment call and there didn’t seem to be rhyme or reason to it,” she said. “I’m definitely in support of moving this out of the historic district and trying to put this into a more formalized format so citizens of Portsmouth can know what the regulations and the rules are.”

HDC member calls on council to have a conversation

Longtime HDC member Reagan Ruedig acknowledged that the number of solar array applications they’ve “seen certainly have increased in the last few years.”

“I appreciate and support all of the sustainability efforts that everyone is making,” she said, and added the HDC does have guidelines governing them.

“Unfortunately most of the public doesn’t know that these guidelines exist,” she added.

But like a group of HDC members who spoke at this council’s meeting, she opposed the proposed change.

“I think that taking a whole chunk of regulations away from the Historic District (Commission) is a very drastic measure, especially because nobody has come to … to talk about it,” Ruedig said. “I would love to have a conversation.”

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HDC has approved some solar panels

Fellow commissioner Dan Brown stated that although the commission rejected two solar arrays in November, “we have approved four applications … in the last six months.”

He also asked people to “envision what the historic district would look like with all black shiny panels solar arrays” on rooftops.

He added that the “HDC not only enhances the values of our homes in that area, but it adds to the value of the whole city.

“Would we have so many visitors and restaurants if we were known as the city of black shiny roofs?” Brown asked.

Commissioner Margot Doering said Portsmouth is “facing a convergence of two very important values of the city, the first is the preservation of our history.”

“At the same time we value very much sustainability and protecting our lovely city as the environment changes,” she said. “These two values are now facing each other in a little bit of a showdown.”

“I don’t think it has to be a showdown … This is not a you-win-I-lose situation. We should all win, both the historic nature of the city, and the future of the city,” she added.

Incredibly confusing rules, councilor says

City Councilor Kate Cook, who lives in the historic district, agreed that “we can have solar and we can have historic preservation.”

At the same time, she pointed to the need to clarify all HDC guidelines, and not just on solar arrays.

They can, she maintained, “be incredibly confusing to homeowners because there’s a lot of calls that are made, nothing is laid out in specifics.”

“It also means it costs them a lot of money to come before the Historic District Commission,” Cook said. “A regular homeowner who wants to replace four windows on their house has to hire an attorney and have their contractor present to come before the Historic District Commission.”

“It can be an extended process just to get a few windows, solar is similar,” she added.

Cook is “worried about my neighbors losing their homes,” because of “sea level rise.”

So while she supports further discussion on the proposed rules change, she also wants to see the council “moving forward” on the issue, Cook said.

Mayor Deaglan McEachern thanked Denton and Blalock for bringing up the idea, and said it’s a “much needed discussion.”

He pointed to the importance of Portsmouth’s “historic nature” but added he wants to make it as “easy as possible” for people to install solar arrays in the historic district.

“If we’re at 4-3 votes, that’s not super clear, it’s not clear for you guys (commissioners), it’s not clear for the applicants,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH solar panels in historic district debate heats up