A. No solar energy system, or an addition to an existing system, shall be constructed or located within Owyhee County unless an administrative permit under this chapter has been issued by the zoning official approving the construction for a solar energy system.
B. Each application shall be submitted with the fee established pursuant to resolution of Owyhee County as adopted. Such fee shall be reasonably related to the cost of administering this chapter.
C. Applications for roof mounted solar energy systems of any square footage up to 25 kW, in zones A, M, R, C, and I, not covered by an airport/airspace overlay, and that meet the design requirements of this ordinance shall be by administrative approval of the zoning official and shall not require a conditional use permit. However, nothing in this ordinance is intended to allow incremental increases over time, or multiple small systems in order to avoid the provisions of this ordinance.
D. Applications for ground mounted solar energy systems of 800 square feet or less, in zones A, M, R, C, and I, not covered by an airport/airspace overlay, and that meet the design requirements of this ordinance shall be by administrative approval of the zoning official and shall not require a conditional use permit.
E. Solar energy system components must have an anti-reflectivity coating to help reduce the amount of glare from the panels.
F. Historic Buildings - Solar energy systems on buildings within designated historic districts or on locally designated historic buildings (exclusive of State or Federal historic designation) must receive approval of the Historic Preservation Commission, consistent with the standards for solar energy systems on historically designated buildings published by the U.S. Department of Interior. (Ord. 09-09, 10-6-2009; amd. Res. 20-26, 9-21-2021)