Solar Ordinance to be Re-Introduced Monday

After more than a month of work on the proposed solar ordinance, the Bedminster Township Committee is preparing to re-introduce it at Monday’s committee meeting.

The committee spent three meetings discussing changes to the ordinance that was originally introduced in March because members had concerns about some of the requirements and mandates.

The committee has since decided that solar canopies will not be allowed in commercial area parking lots like the Hills Village Shopping Center, and accepted the idea to make buffering requirements for ground-mounted solar arrays in the R-10 zone less specific to lower costs.

The committee has discussed what zones ground-mounted panels will be allowed in, and said that roof-mounted panels will be allowed in all areas of the township.

Ground-mounted panels will not be allowed in residential areas with smaller lot sizes, ensuring that those with less than 10 acres will probably not have them.

The latest introduction of the ordinance is coming days before the first hearing on a controversial application before the Land Use Board to construct a solar farm on the Kirby property on Country Club Road. That application by KDC Solar of Bedminster calls for the installation of a 55-acre, 49,000-panel industrial-scale solar power plant that would power only Sanofi-Aventis on Route 202/206 in Bridgewater.

The hearings are scheduled to begin May 9, but Mayor Steve Parker has said the ordinance and the application are two completely separate issues.

The township committee meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the municipal building on Miller Lane.