A Janesville household wants to use solar panels to collect energy, but the City of Janesville needs to clarify the rules for that sort of construction.
Gale Price, manager of building and development services, says the proposed solar panel would be built on a pole, with the ability to rotate toward the sun to capture energy. The overall height of the structure would be 21 feet. The zoning code prohibits structures higher than 14 feet in residential backyards, but the Zoning Board of Appeals could grant an exception. Price says city staff members are working on a new ordinance regarding the solar panels.
The new ordinance would take into account the size of the shadows the panels cast upon neighboring yards, to prevent shadows from interfering with neighbors' backyards and gardens.
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