Public Comment

On Tuesday March 15, consultants working on Berkeley’s Zoning Ordinance Revision Project (ZORP) will be making a presentation to the Berkeley City Council about their proposals for upzoning Berkeley’s residential neighborhoods. Unfortunately, they are ignoring the impact that proposed zoning changes allowing for bigger and taller buildings could have on neighboring homes’ solar access and rooftop solar panels.

I would encourage people who think solar panels are worth protecting from shadowing by new development to e-mail the City Council (or call them) and tell them that you support objective solar access standards and protections for rooftop solar panels. Send e-mail by noon Monday if possible to council@cityofberkeley.info

No residential neighborhood upzoning without objective solar access standards and protections for solar panels!

Background 

A review of City of Berkeley permit records shows that there are about 4000 addresses in Berkeley where solar panels have been installed and additional permits are being issued every week. In 2020, it was reported that about 6.6% of homes in the state have solar panels. In Berkeley, the percentage is substantially higher, more like 15%. A record number of solar panel permits, over 550, were issued by the City in 2021. If permits were to continue to be issued at this rate, over 30% of Berkeley’s residential roofs could have solar panels by end of 2030. 

In addition, 668 addresses also have permits for energy storage systems (batteries), which amounts to about one sixth of the solar panel addresses. Over 85% of these addresses have had energy storage systems installed or permitted since the beginning of 2000. Some people are including energy storage in their solar panel installation permits while others are adding energy storage systems where solar panels were previously installed. Energy storage systems are very important because they provide electricity during hours of peak demand when the sun isn’t shining and, by doing so reduce greenhouse gas emissions created when PG&E and other utilities rely on electricity created by burning natural gas to meet peak demand. 

In Berkeley, a substantial number of electric vehicle owners are powering their EV chargers with rooftop solar panels; a majority of electrical vehicle permits are being issued to people with solar panels. It’s certainly less costly than paying PG&E for electricity given their current exorbitant rates. Electric vehicles are critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. 

Installing rooftop panels is not cheap, but as panel prices have dropped, it’s become more affordable to middle class families. The savings from smaller PG &E bills over the life of the panels offset the substantial upfront cost of installing the panels. The City of Berkeley has been encouraging rooftop solar and won an award in 2018 for its efforts. Unfortunately, zoning changes, if they allow and result in shadowing of solar panels, could discourage installation of solar panels and energy storage systems and undermine Berkeley’s efforts to address climate change. To avoid this, it's essential that zoning changes include standards to protect rooftop solar panels from shadowing by the new development the zoning changes encourage. Other cities such as Fremont and Sunnyvale have implemented protections for solar panels. And numerous other cities, including El Cerrito have implemented objective solar access or “daylight plane” standards that determine how much a proposed building can shadow a neighboring property. 

Housing and rooftop solar panels 

The city doesn’t have to choose between more housing in residential neighborhoods and protections for solar panels. It can have both. It’s a matter of incorporating objective shadowing standards in the zoning; of requiring good design with adequate setbacks especially for higher floors. Plenty of housing is being built in cities that have already enacted solar access standards.The Council should ask staff and/or consultants to research objective standards to protect panels and solar access and such standards should be enacted before or at the same time as any upzoning of Berkeley’s residential neighborhoods. 

Why are objective standards necessary? Under California’s Housing Accountability Act, cities cannot reject housing projects that comply with objective standards such as allowable heights, setbacks and lot coverage. Cities cannot exercise discretion and reject a project that would have a negative impact if that project meets the existing objective standards. Berkeley currently only has objective solar access (or shadowing) standards for the north side of University Ave, which were implemented in conjunction with the University Avenue Plan. These standards have not prevented housing development on University. 

ZORP consultants are presenting a proposal that developers be allowed to build 4-unit, 35’ buildings with only 4’ setbacks by right, with no public notification or opportunity for public comment, on any residential lot. They have not addressed the possible solar access impacts on neighboring homes. With existing standards, shadowing is generally not a big problem in the middle of residential blocks. Most homes and small apartment buildings on residential streets are one or two stories. But if zoning changes allowing bigger, taller buildings are approved, it will increase the likelihood that in some cases new buildings will have a negative impact on neighboring properties with solar panels, unless protections for solar access and rooftop solar panels in the form of clear objective standards are implemented along with the upzoning. 

The impact of upzoning - 

Upzoning, changing the zoning code to allow more to be built on a lot, increases the value of the land that's upzoned. Upzoned properties become more attractive to speculators who can buy a single family or smaller rental property, demolish it and build the maximum building or buildings now allowed by the new zoning. When discussion of 4-plex zoning began in Berkeley, many people called for “No Upzoning Without Affordability” - the city should get some benefit from the increase in land values resulting from the zoning change enacted by the City. Some research shows that upzoning is associated with gentrification and higher housing costs. The smart approach to zoning changes is to enact changes that help meet city needs, such as the need for more affordable housing ,while avoiding detrimental impacts such as shadowing of solar panels. 

For more information about rooftop solar in Berkeley, or if you have comments or questions or would like to get involved, contact the Berkeley Solar Rights Committee at berkeleysolarrights@gmail.com