{"id":33702,"date":"2013-03-27T16:27:12","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T23:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=33702"},"modified":"2013-04-01T00:00:48","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T07:00:48","slug":"new-homes-in-lancaster-must-produce-solar-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/03\/27\/new-homes-in-lancaster-must-produce-solar-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"New homes in Lancaster must produce solar energy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Solar<\/a>
Lancaster is the first city in the nation to make residential solar mandatory, city officials said.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 The Lancaster City Council Tuesday night adopted a new ordinance which will require residential units built within Lancaster on or after January 1, 2014 to provide an average of 1 kilowatt (kW) of solar-generated electricity per housing unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLancaster is already strongly committed to furthering green energy and reducing our carbon footprint. In fact, we\u2019ve been nationally and internationally recognized for our solar achievements. However, to truly establish ourselves as the Alternative Energy Capital of the World, we must continue to take a progressive approach. I would like to commend our Planning Commission for this innovative revision of the Residential Zones, which will rapidly advance us towards becoming a net-zero City in record time,\u201d said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris in a city news release.<\/p>\n

The new ordinance is a comprehensive revision of the City\u2019s current Residential Zoning.\u00a0 The specific section addressing solar energy systems requires new single family residential units to provide solar-generated power at a minimum average of 1 kW per unit (depending on the type of lot). Installation of solar energy systems is not required for all homes within a production subdivision; however, the builder will still be required to meet the aggregate energy generation requirement within the subdivision.<\/p>\n

In addition, the ordinance includes revised development standards, additional design and performance measures, infill development incentives, accessory dwelling unit requirements, provisions allowing corner duplexes, and live-work provisions. The ordinance also contains regulations to implement provisions of the City\u2019s adopted Housing Element and current State housing law, which are necessary to comply with State law.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the adoption of the General Plan Update in 2009, City staff began initial research on the Residential Zones update. An administrative draft was released in June 2011, followed by a public draft in January 2012. Following several outreach efforts and a series of public hearings, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 13-01 on January 28, 2013, recommending to the City Council approval of the City\u2019s Residential Zoning Ordinance. Other zoning code amendments for implementation of specific actions from the City\u2019s Housing Element are also included in the same resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe layout and design of buildings and streets comprise a crucial component of any thriving cutting-edge city. As such, to ensure that the City of Lancaster remains at the forefront of innovative and progressive design and technology, the Architectural and Design Commission conducted a comprehensive revision of the City\u2019s previous design guidelines, creating new principles which better reflect the current design approach and philosophy,\u201d said Parris.<\/p>\n

Parris said the new ordinance reflects Lancaster\u2019s commitment to becoming a net-zero city.<\/p>\n

(Information via press release from the city of Lancaster.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 The Lancaster City Council Tuesday night adopted a new ordinance which will require residential units built within Lancaster on or after January 1, 2014 to provide an average of 1 kilowatt (kW) of solar-generated electricity per housing unit. \u201cLancaster is already strongly committed to furthering green energy and reducing our carbon footprint. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}