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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDean Variance 062711 Attachment BAttachment B: Applicant Response to Criteria and Findings Dear Rachel and PEC, In addition to the original letter submitted for Warren Dean's solar variance, please find below points that specifically address your criteria and findings (inserted in blue). At this point, I believe the only variance left in this system is the fact that it extends 2' (east side) to 3' (west side) above the roof apex, versus the 1' specified by the new ordinance. Per our conversation this morning, please note that I await your pdfs to satisfy your request for additional drawing of the panels on the side views.   Best regards. Laurent Meillon Capitol Solar Energy, LLC Harvesting sunlight since 1982   Criteria 1. The relationship of the requested variance to other existing or potential uses and structures in the vicinity. Applicant Response: The panels offer very little additional visibility when compared to the large Duplex home they are on, or the huge hill that lays south of it. They constitute a small detail which makes no fundamental change to the current situation. We believe neighbors are upset by the overall size of the duplex, and are using the solar panels to express their feelings. See attached picture of the building (taken from the street. We did not dare step on the neighbor's property  - Mrs Dean, who shares the same last name by coincidence - to show her view, which is even more remote) and architectural plans for a better appreciation of the visuals. I will be glad to present this in more detail at the variance meeting.   Criteria 2. The degree to which relief from the strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of a specified regulation is necessary to achieve compatibility and uniformity of treatment among sites in the vicinity, or to attain the objectives of this title without grant of special privilege. Applicant Response: This is a solar thermal system. It does not throw energy back into the grid. It stores the energy on-site for one main purpose: space heating. Colorado's azimuth is 40 degrees (this is the average angle of the sun. The azimuth moves and is greater in winter). Traditionally, space heating panels are mounted at 40 degrees or steeper (up to 65 degrees) for optimal performance, and the current request at 35 degrees is already a compromise to accommodate neighbors. The roof is narrow from north to south, and the mountain to the south of the home is enormous - these aspects requiring the panels to be where they are so they are hit by the sun during the space heating season. The two Nearby systems visible from the highway (when driving in from the East) are mounted at 55 to 65 degrees, despite the absence of solar access issues. This system is in a remote part of East Vail, and will only be visible form adjacent neighbor properties, as a small object on top of a large duplex home. This is the first solar thermal system which may go in Vail in several decades, and the renewed focus on solar energy solutions is relatively recent, so it's difficult to discuss uniformity in the town. Note that the East side of the array does not extend more than 1' above the adjacent higher N-S Apex to the East. Also note that the other Duplex Unit sits North of the west half of the array, making most of the panels invisible from most of the rather distant street.   Criteria 3. The effect of the requested variance on light and air, distribution of population, transportation and traffic facilities, public facilities and utilities, and public safety. Applicant Response: The system will greatly reducing burning of natural gas at this residence, eliminating seven thousand pounds of CO2, plus associated other toxic chemicals, from being released each year in this neighborhood. This in turns improves the air quality of those living and breathing around this home.   Criteria 4. Such other factors and criteria as the commission deems applicable to the proposed variance. Applicant Response: The current ordinance, although an improvement in the right direction, remains in contradiction with state law - starting with the 1979 CO Senate bill 133 - section 38-30-168: "Unreasonable restrictions on solar energy device void: ...Any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, or other instrument affecting ... any interest real property solely on the basis of aesthetic consideration which effectively prohibits or restricts the installation or use of a solar energy device, is void and unenforceable." It contradicts several of the other 57 renewable energy bills passed in the last 4 years in the CO legislature, as well as several Federal orders and priorities to free ourselves from fossil fuels and its geopolitical, economic and ecological consequences. Please not that our new Governor has already signed  a new solar Act this month of June, the "Fair Permit Act", which caps residential solar system permit fees to $500 in aggregate, and that this Act had passed through both chambers with an overwhelming bi-partisan support.   B. Necessary Findings: The planning and environmental commission shall make the following findings before granting a variance: 1. That the granting of the variance will not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitations on other properties classified in the same zone district. Applicant Response: This system was designed and sold prior to the first ordinance coming to light. The custom 4' x 8' x 5' high solar tank in the mechanical room was inspected by the town of Vail prior to the ordinance's existence. This home is a close as it gets to the mountain, and as remote as it gets from the center of Vail. These factors combine to form a unique situation for this home owner. Refusing this variance would single out this homeowner, who took the courageous decision to install a solar device on a home with objective challenges for sun access. Solar thermal came as a second thought, because the home was not suited for soalr PV in the first place. This was determined through a Pathfinder analysis (a $2,000 solar access computation device) by Active Energies (an energy consultant and the main solar PV installer in the Vail valley). This pathfinder analysis was used to determine placement of the solar thermal panels on this roof. Since the beginning of our involvement in the solar industry 30 year ago, the impossibility to complete this system since over a year ago constitutes a unique situation not only in Vail but in the whole State.   2. That the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare, or materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity. Applicant Response: This system improves air quality for the neighbors. If most homes in Vail did the same improvement, it would reduce 70% of all natural gas emissions in the town of Vail - tens of millions of tons of CO2 each year!   3. That the variance is warranted for one or more of the following reasons: a. The strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would result in practical difficulty or unnecessary physical hardship inconsistent with the objectives of this title. Applicant Response: Please see paragraph B1. b. There are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applicable to the site of the variance that do not apply generally to other properties in the same zone district. Applicant Response: Please see B1 as well. c. The strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would deprive the applicant of privileges enjoyed by the owners of other properties in the same zone district. Applicant Response: See existing arrays visible by all that drive into Vail from the highway west-bound. These arrays date back to the 80s, and are, to the best of our knowledge the only benchmark available in Vail for solar thermal panels.