A. Locational Criteria: The City will utilize the following criteria to identify appropriate locations within the City for utility scale solar uses:
1. Located south of Interstate 10.
2. Located approximately ½ mile from an Interstate 10 traffic interchange and a minimum of two thousand two hundred feet (2,200') from the southern right of way boundary of Interstate 10.
3. For formal, complete applications filed with the City after March 1, 2024, the project must be located contiguous to an existing and/or approved utility scale solar generation facility for a minimum distance of two thousand six hundred feet (2,600') (south of Interstate 10 only) and Section 21-3-1.39 (Acreage Limitation and Expansion) has not been exceeded.
The City may utilize the following criteria to assist in the siting of appropriate utility scale solar uses:
1. Located proximate to an existing or designed and capital funded electrical substation, transmission line or other satisfactory inter-tie location.
2. Located on a previously utilized site exhibiting challenging characteristics for reuse (i.e. existing brownfield site, aggregate extraction site, etc.) and/or a site exhibiting low vegetative, ecological and/or cultural resource values.
B. Acreage Limit and Future Expansion: The cumulative acreage maximum for utility scale solar generation, including associated BESS uses, in the City of Eloy is eleven thousand seven hundred forty-four (11,744) acres (sixteen percent (16%) of the City's total incorporated area). The ability to increase the cumulative acreage maximum may only occur with a formal written request to the City Council by the Applicant. The burden of proof to substantiate such request will be the sole responsibility of the Applicant, prior to the acceptance of any entitlement, site plan or building plans by the City of Eloy.
C. Conforming Development: That development of the utility scale solar generation and associated BESS project shall be in compliance with the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) narrative or Planned Area Development (PAD) document and/or the Eloy Zoning Ordinance.
D. Project Zoning Amendments: Any major changes or modifications to the subject CUP or PAD shall be reviewed and processed in accordance with those procedures outlined in the Eloy Zoning Ordinance, as may be amended from time to time. Locations proposed for utility scale solar with underlying PADs, previously adopted by the City Council, may be amended to add Utility Scale Solar as a permitted use and shall not be severed. If PAD severing is proposed, the portion of the PAD proposed for utility scale solar shall voluntarily rescind its PAD entitlements and revert to its base zoning districts. That portion of the PAD not proposed for utility scale solar shall retain its PAD status. If the resulting base zoning districts do not permit utility scale solar, such areas will be voluntarily downzoned to R1-43, R1-54, RR2.5, RR-5, or RR-20 and the entire area will be reviewed and approved with a Conditional Use Permit. The Zoning Administrator, or his/her designee, may administratively approve minor amendments and will determine the difference between major and minor amendments.
E. Site Plan Approval: The property owner/agent shall submit and receive Eloy Planning and Zoning Commission approval for the Site Plan for the entire project prior to obtaining construction plan approval.
F. Utility Scale Solar Development Standards: The development standards identified in Table 3-1-1 of this section apply to all principal uses and structures, except as otherwise expressly stated in this chapter. Regulations governing accessory uses and structures are identified in Section 21-3-2 of this chapter.
TABLE 3-1-1 Utility Scale Solar Development Standards
Project Size, Minimum | Project Width, Minimum | Front Setback | Side Setback | Side Setback (Street ) | Rear Setback | Lot Coverage, Maximum | Building Height, Maximum |
160 acres | 1,300 lineal feet | 75'1, 2 | 75'1 | 75'1 | 75'1,2 | 5%2 | As per underlyin g zoning district for principal structures. Accessory structures is fifteen feet (15')3 |
Notes:
1. A setback of one hundred feet (100') shall occur between the utility scale solar generation project and any existing adjacent residential homes or acreage zoned R1-12, R1-6, R-2, and R-3.
2. Freestanding, ground mounted solar arrays shall not count toward the lot coverage percentage. All inverters, inverter pads, BESS containers and on-site project substations are to be included in the lot coverage percentage determination.
3. Does not apply to poles and other facilities associated with on-site substation uses.
G. Development Conditions of Approval: The following minimum conditions of approval shall be imposed on every utility scale solar generation and associated BESS project.
1. Pre and Post Construction Property Maintenance: A Site Maintenance Agreement shall be mutually executed between the Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee and the City (as a condition of approval) to ensure that all undeveloped portions of the subject property shall be maintained in a natural, debris-free, and weed-free condition. Subsequent to the construction of the solar arrays, native low growing vegetation shall be used to stabilize the site for the duration of the facility's use. Weed control or mowing shall be performed routinely and a performance bond reflecting the costs of such maintenance for a period of six (6) months shall be posted and maintained by the Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee. Solar panels shall be repaired or replaced or removed when they are either nonfunctional or in visible disrepair. Persistent failure, over a period of six (6) months, to maintain the site or its improvements may result in revocation of the conditional use permit or planned area development entitlements and initiate the facility's decommissioning by the City of Eloy.
Prior to revoking a conditional use permit or zoning, and prior to initiating a partial or complete decommissioning of any project, the City must provide the Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee with official notice of the City's intent to revoke via certified mail. The notice shall identify each specific reason for the commencement of the revocation or decommissioning process and shall provide the Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee with thirty (30) calendar days to remedy the issue identified in the notice. If the remedy requires more than thirty (30) calendar days to complete, the Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee shall, within the thirty (30) calendar day period, respond and inform the City, identifying the scope of work and requesting a reasonable timeframe to remedy the identified issue(s). The City and Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee shall mutually determine the appropriate timeframe to completely resolve the issue(s). In the event that thirty (30) calendar days pass and the issues have not been completely resolved nor has the City received any written correspondence from the Property Owner or the Property Owner's designee the City may place the item on a City Council Agenda to allow public comment and input from the Property Owner or Property Owner's designee prior to considering a revocation of the conditional use permit (or other entitlement on the property), commencing decommissioning of the project, or providing the Property Owner or Property Owner's designee additional time to remedy the issue(s). The specific process for this revocation procedure shall be set out in the Site Maintenance Agreement and the revocation and decommissioning process described herein can only be pursued for allegations related to violations of the Site Maintenance Agreement and/or the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC)
2. Perimeter Landscape Treatment: The property owner/developer shall coordinate with City Staff to select appropriate drought tolerant landscape vegetation (from the Pinal AMA Low Water Use Plant List prepared by the Arizona Department of Water Resources) to be located in a minimum ten (10) foot landscape setback along all minor and major arterial frontages of the project. The landscape setback along Sunland Gin Road, Toltec Road, Sunshine Boulevard, Phillips Road, Harmon Road, and Pretzer Road shall be a minimum of thirty feet (30'). Unless otherwise agreed to by the Zoning Administrator, all landscape areas are to be initially served with a drip irrigation and water tank storage system and irrigated on a regularly scheduled basis to promote vigorous vegetative health and growth. If municipal water service is extended to within four hundred (400) feet of the project boundary, the irrigation system shall be retroactively extended, connected and activated for use. Landscaping and irrigation systems shall be maintained throughout the life of the project by the developer.
3. Utility Scale Solar Generation Perimeter Security: The entire perimeter of the subject utility scale solar generation facility shall be enclosed, at a minimum with a chain link fence, powder coated sage green, and erected to a height of seven (7) feet as measured from the finish grade of the land prior to the commencement of operations of the utility scale solar generation facility. The fence shall be maintained in an upright and functional condition pursuant to the executed Site Maintenance Agreement and the adopted National Electric Code.
4. Lighting: Any on-site lighting provided for the operational phase of the utility scale solar generation or BESS Facility shall comply with Section 21-4-5: Outdoor Lighting of the Eloy Zoning Code.
6. Construction/Building Inspections: The Applicant shall allow designated City of Eloy third-party inspectors as well as City employee's access to the utility scale solar generation facility premises with forty-eight (48) hour notice for inspection purposes as set forth in their application.
7. Pre-Operational Training: The Applicant shall arrange a training session with the Eloy Fire District to familiarize personnel with issues unique to the utility scale solar generation facility prior to the initiation of solar operations.
8. Regulatory Compliance: The utility scale solar generation facility shall be designed, constructed, and tested to meet relevant local, state, and federal standards, as applicable.
9. Regional Land Use Impacts and Mitigation: At the discretion of the Zoning Administrator, the Property Owner or Property Owner's designee shall contact existing/proposed land use entities (i.e. Sawtooth Airfield, Kitt Peak Observatory, farms, etc.) to discuss and memorialize in written form, the potential impacts of the project. Such dialogue shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator for review and reference.
10. Minor and Major Arterial Road Dedication: The property owner/developer shall dedicate the full right of way for all minor and major arterial roads (as identified on the City's adopted General Plan-Circulation Map) or as identified by the Eloy Public Works Director prior to obtaining a building permit. The half-street dedication for major arterial rights of way for Sunland Gin Road, Toltec Road, Sunshine Boulevard, Phillips Road, Harmon Road, and Pretzer Road (Gateways), shall be increased to eighty-three (83) feet to increase the standard twelve (12) foot landscape area to a total of a thirty (30) foot landscape area.
11. Interim Arterial Road Improvements: The property owner/agent shall improve all perimeter minor and major arterial roads located along the proposed utility scale solar generation and associated BESS project boundary (or internal to the project boundary) with a double chip seal pavement width of twenty-eight (28) feet within the projects' half-street rights of way. The subbase of such roadways shall be six (6) inches of aggregate base course material. Low water crossings shall be installed at grade, in locations where drainage model shows flow, and side ditches on the side of roads shall capture regular storm flows and convey flows along current drainage paths.
a. Internal Project Roadway Emergency Response Access: The property owner/agent shall coordinate with the Eloy Fire District on the required roadway cross section to provide adequate internal circulation necessary to serve a vehicle with seventy five thousand (75,000) gross vehicle weight from the project vehicular access points to key internal project components (i.e. inverters, batteries, etc.) for fire and emergency response apparatus.
b. Battery Energy Storage Systems: The provision of a battery energy storage system, only associated with the utility scale solar generation facility, shall only be located within the boundaries of the benefitting utility scale solar generation facility.
H. Project Decommissioning: Successful decommissioning of the utility scale solar generation facility and BESS (as applicable) shall entail the preparation of a decommissioning plan, cost estimate, financial assurances, and the complete removal of non-operational above and below ground improvements. If the State of Arizona adopts statewide solar generation facilities decommissioning rules and/or standards subsequent to the City's adoption of the provisions below, the City reserves the right to review the adopted State rules and/or regulations and to incorporate all, or portions thereof, through an executed amendment of this ordinance.
1. Decommissioning Plan: The Applicant shall submit a decommissioning plan to the City of Eloy for approval prior to, or in conjunction with, the building permit submittal. The purpose of the decommissioning plan is to specify the procedure by which the Applicant, or its successor, would remove the above and below ground improvements associated with the utility scale solar generation (and if applicable BESS) facilities to a depth of forty-eight (48) inches after the end of their usefulness and to restore the property for immediate non-solar related uses.
2. Decommissioning Cost Estimate: The decommissioning plan shall include a decommissioning cost estimate prepared by an independent third-party Arizona licensed professional engineer mutually agreed upon by the Applicant and the City which will quantify the gross estimated cost to decommission the utility scale solar generation facility (and BESS Facility, if applicable) in accordance with the decommissioning plan and these conditions. If the decommissioning cost estimate includes any estimates or offsets for the resale or salvage values of the utility scale solar generation facility, or BESS equipment and materials, it shall be supported by an attached bid (dated within six (6) months) from a third party vendor confirming their intent to buy and/or salvage the identified solar generation components. The cost of preparing the estimate shall be paid by the Applicant.
3. Decommissioning Cost Estimate Update: The applicant, or its successor, shall cause the independent third-party Arizona licensed professional engineer to update the decommissioning cost estimate every seven (7) years. The cost of preparing this update shall be paid by the Applicant.
I. Decommissioning Financial Assurances: Prior to the City's approval of the building permit, the Applicant shall provide financial assurances to ensure that decommissioning can successfully occur by choosing either of the following options:
1. Letter of Credit or Surety Bond for Full Decommissioning Cost and Guaranty: A letter of credit issued by a financial institution that has (i) a credit rating of at least Baa3 or higher by Moody's or BBB- or higher by Standard and Poor's; and financial ratios and capitalization requirements that are acceptable to the City, in the full amount of the decommissioning estimate; or
2. Tiered Securitization: An amount equal to, or more than, ten percent (10%) of the approved decommissioning cost estimate to be deposited in a cash escrow account at a financial institution acceptable to the City of Eloy; or an amount equal to, or more than, ten (10) percent of the decommissioning cost estimate in the form of a letter of credit or surety bond issued by a financial institution that has a credit rating of at least "A-" from Standard & Poor's or A3 from Moody's and assets (50%) and capital surplus (50%) totaling at least $10,000,000,000, or an A.M. Best financial strength rating of at least "A- (Excellent) or other credit rating and capitalization reasonably acceptable to the City of Eloy, with the amount of the letter of credit or surety bond increasing by an additional ten percent (10%) each year in years 2-9 after commencement of operation of the utility scale solar generation facility.
3. Letter of Credit Adjustment: Following each revision of the decommissioning cost estimate, the Applicant shall adjust the value of the letter of credit to one hundred (100) percent of the then-current decommissioning cost estimate.
4. Decommissioning Securitization Review: Upon the receipt of the first revised decommissioning cost estimate (following the seventh (7th) year anniversary), any increase or decrease in the decommissioning securitization shall be funded by the applicant or refunded to the applicant (if permissible by the form of security) within ninety (90) calendar days and will be similarly readjusted for every subsequent seven (7)-year decommissioning cost estimate update.
5. Receipt of Securitization Funds: The assurance must be received prior to the approval of the building permit and must remain in full force for the duration of the life span of the utility scale solar generation facility and until all decommissioning is completed to the satisfaction of the City of Eloy. If the City receives notice or reasonably believes that any form of assurance has been revoked, or the City receives notice that any assurance may be revoked, the City may, after providing notice and a reasonable opportunity to post a replacement security, revoke the conditional use permit or planned area development entitlement and shall be entitled to take all actions necessary to obtain the rights to the securitized funds.
J. Applicant/Property Owner Obligation: Within six (6) months after the complete cessation of use of the utility scale solar generation facility for electrical power generation or transmission, the applicant or its successor, at its sole cost and expense, shall initiate, and provide continuous, decommissioning of the utility scale solar generation facility in accordance with the mutually approved decommissioning plan. If the Applicant or its successor fails to complete all decommissioning of the utility scale solar generation facility, in accordance with the schedule provided in the mutually approved decommissioning plan, the property owners shall immediately commence decommissioning activities in accordance with the decommissioning plan. Following the completion of decommissioning of the entire utility scale solar generation facility and payment for such costs, arising out of a default by the applicant or its successor, any remaining securitized funds held by the City shall be distributed to the property owners(s) in the same percentage of the securitized funds matched with the percentage of the property owner's acreage ownership of the utility scale solar generation facility.
K. Applicant/Property Owner Default; Decommissioning by the City of Eloy: If the Applicant, its successor, or the property owner(s) fail to decommission the utility scale solar generation facility pursuant to the mutually approved decommissioning plan and the City has not approved a repowering of the solar generation facility, the City shall have the right, but not the obligation, to commence decommissioning activities and shall have access to the property, and shall have the right to draw on securitized funds up to the amount of the actual decommissioning costs, and the rights to the utility scale solar generation facility and BESS equipment and materials remaining on the property. If applicable, any excess decommissioning securitized funds shall be returned to the current owner of the property after the City has completed the decommissioning activities and paid all outstanding invoices. Nothing herein shall limit other rights or remedies that may be available to the City to enforce the obligations of the Applicant, including under the City's zoning powers.
1. Equipment/Building Removal: All physical improvements, materials, and equipment related to solar energy generation, shall be removed from the surface and the subsurface to a depth of forty-eight (48) inches. The pre-existing soil grade will also be restored following disturbance caused in the removal process. All perimeter fencing will be removed and recycled or reused. Upon approval of the Zoning Administrator, or his/her designee, the existing perimeter fencing may remain in place.
2. Infrastructure Removal: All access roads located within private property will be removed. The exception to removal of the access roads and associated culverts or their related material would be based upon written request from the current or future landowner to allow all, or a portion of these facilities to remain in place for use by that landowner.
3. Partial Decommissioning: If decommissioning is triggered for a portion, but not the entire utility scale solar generation facility, then the applicant or its successor will commence and complete decommissioning, in accordance with the decommissioning plan, for the applicable portion of the utility scale solar generation facility; the remaining portion of the utility scale solar generation facility would continue to be subject to the decommissioning plan.
(Ord. 18-880, 7-23-2018; amd. Ord. 23-950, 8-28-2023)
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