Solar Ordinance Withdrawn to Committee for Further Discussion

The Bedminster Land Use Board was asked to not review the solar ordinance Thursday because members of the township committee are hoping to hold a discussion about some of their concerns during Monday’s meeting.

According to Mayor Steve Parker, the solar ordinance is not being withdrawn, but is just going back to the committee before review.

“It has to come before the Land Use Board for consistency with the master plan,” he said. “We are going to have a township committee discussion on Monday, and there might be enough substantive comments to possibly need a reintroduction.”

The solar ordinance was initially introduced by the township committee March 4.

It amends the township’s land use rules to accommodate roof-mounted and ground-mounted solar power installations, as well as those mounted on parking lot canopies across the various sections of the township, from the high density housing areas to the rural residential zones, commercial zones and farmland zones.

Parker said that the committee is hoping to hold a public hearing on the ordinance in April—prior to that, he said, it has to be approved for consistency with the master plan by the Land Use Board.

“But we thought we could have township committee comments at the next meeting, which allows us to make comments back and forth,” he said. “I have already heard from some colleagues that they may have some things of substance to discuss.”

“And I have an idea that that something of substance might constitute reintroduction,” he said. “We want to go ahead and make sure it is fully vetted.”

Parker said that if the Land Use Board had checked the ordinance for consistency now, it would have to do it again if the ordinance were to be reintroduced.

“We are just keeping the Land Use Board from having to do this twice,” he said. “It is more efficient.”

Parker said he has received some emails from residents about the proposed ordinance, with comments similar to those made during the meeting about how it could change the town landscape.

At this point, Parker said, he does not know if there will need to be a reintroduction of the ordinance, but he would like to give the committee a chance to discuss it before it goes to the Land Use Board.

“We haven’t had any deliberations in public yet, and we are not having any in private,” he said. “We have had colleagues say there is something they want to talk about.”

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