Portsmouth woman says city board rejecting solar array puts looks over environment

PORTSMOUTH — New Castle Avenue resident Anne Moodey remains frustrated by what she sees as a city board’s decision to put aesthetics over environmental stewardship.

“Yes it’s not the most beautiful thing in the world, but it’s on the back of my house,” Moodey said during an interview Monday. She discussed her efforts to get the city’s Historic District Commission to approve her request to install a solar array on the back roof of her historic home. “But the fact that it’s helping the environment is more important.”

She said none of her neighbors spoke against the solar array, which wouldn't be visible from the street if it was approved as first proposed.

“I find the hypocrisy of the way they approach things in the town disturbing,” she said about the HDC. “If you’ve got a lot of money, you can get things done, but my simple tiny little project that’s not bothering anybody gets rejected.”

Where others have sat by silently when faced with opposition from the commission, Moodey passionately defended the project at a recent meeting and her motives to use solar power for “the good of the environment.”

The commission ultimately voted 4-3 to reject her request for a certificate of approval to install the solar array.

The issue is back on the HDC’s Wednesday agenda, but Moodey said she does not know if she will proceed with the project even if it is approved.

The solar company she’s working with ended up reducing the amount of panels from what she initially proposed.

“I’m more inclined to walk away from the project at this point,” she said.

A good project

Moodey understands the importance of retaining the look of the city’s Historic District, but does not believe her proposed solar array would have hurt it.

“If I thought it would be a huge negative to the Historic District I never would have brought it forward,” she said. “It was a good project.”

City Councilor Rich Blalock, the council’s representative to the HDC, made a motion to approve the project.

But it was voted down 4-3 with Commissioners Dan Brown, Martin Ryan, Dave Adams and Margot Doering voting against approval.

Blalock, Commission Chair Jon Wyckoff and Vice Chair Reagan Ruedig voted to approve the project. Wyckoff could not be reached Monday.

After the vote, Blalock, who could not be immediately reached for comment Monday, said, “I apologize Anne.”

Appearance vs. renewable power

Some commissioners questioned the lineup of the solar panels, while others said it clashed with the color of Moodey’s roof.

But Ruedig said “this is a situation where the solar panels are totally hidden from the main view.”

Ryan, who voted against approving the solar array, said he expected to see engineering drawings before he could approve the project.

“It still is a historic house in a historic district,” Ryan added.

Adams, who voted against the project, said, “I’m surprised there’s no representation here honestly.”

Moodey represented herself at the meeting, which is unusual in most cases before the HDC, thinking someone from the company she worked with would attend.

Adams said the proposed solar array had “sort of it fell off the back of the truck look.”

Moodey replied that “the fact that you guys are objecting to this when it’s on the non-street facing side of this, and I’m trying to do something that is beneficial to our environment, is very concerning for me.”

Ryan added that the HDC cares “about the environment too,” but said Moodey was “dismissing our role here as a board, to protect the Historic District.”

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She denied that allegation.

Doering said she was completely “supportive of putting solar panels on the back of this house, however this is a design review board and I believe that the design of these panels, falls within our purview.”

“I think we need to take into account the appearance of these panels, they are things being added to the building, they affect the appearance of the building,” she said.

Solar power supporters on City Council seek changes

Mayor Deaglan McEachern declined to comment on the specifics of the case when reached Monday.

But he supports the idea of residents working to install solar arrays as a way to create more renewable energy.

“I’m excited to see it’s going back to the HDC,” he said about Moodey’s project.

He stressed the decision on the project, “is the HDC’s call,” but added that “there are many people in Portsmouth who would like to see it made easier to have solar arrays, and not just on roofs.”

He also pointed to an initiative by City Councilors Josh Denton and Kate Cook to make it easier for commercial property owners to install solar arrays in the city.

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He hopes that the proposed ordinance change will also make it easier for residential property owners in the city — including the Historic District — to get solar arrays approved.

“To want to do something to move off of fossil fuels faster … I think is a good thing,” McEachern said. “I’m strongly in favor of allowing solar panels."

At the same time, he credited the HDC for “all the great work they do.”

But he doesn’t believe the look of a solar array would hurt the historic district.

“I do think being able to have solar panels is not going to harm the character of any district in our city, and it aligns to a lot of values we have here in Portsmouth,” he said.

Denton noted while the proposed solar array overlay district is aimed at commercial property owners, “I’d love to see something for residential too.”

“We want to make it simpler to allow businesses who want to do this to know where in the city they can,” Denton said.

He added that he is “aware there have been some solar arrays going in front of the HDC recently.”

Like McEachern, he declined to comment on the specifics of Moodey’s case.

But he stated, “I would like to see the HDC adopt more modern standards to allow solar arrays in the Historic District.”

He said homeowners can also work to prevent energy leakage from their homes.

“In general I think it would benefit everyone in the Historic District if guidelines were improved showing specifically the kind of solar arrays they’re looking for,” he said about the HDC.

The council voted at its November meeting to ask City Manager Karen Conard for a report back on how to move forward with the solar array overlay district.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH board rejects solar array. Homeowner fights back.