Solar energy panels on Gore home a 'Go' ... almost

[jpak]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/NEWS03/70319056/1001/NEWS

Global warming guru Al Gore had talked about putting solar panels on his Belle Meade home months ago, but no one was seeing them there.

The delay apparently wasn’t on his end.


Zoning laws for the city of Belle Meade so far haven’t permitted the panels, City Manager Beth Reardon said.

“The only holdup is that the ordinance allowing it is not effective until April 1,” she said. “After that, he’s clear to go.”

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edit: all Al Gore detractors can kiss my ass...

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

1. I'm so freaking sick of

zoning laws and/or home owner association covenants that prohibit well-though-out solar on rootops. It's the damn clone/lemming mentality of these covenants that are so stupid. I simply could not live in a place where everyone's mail boxes are exactly alike, and where cats/dogs are not allowed outside unless on a leash - and especially where I'm not allowed to self generate some of my electricity with solar.

I know a guy who bought land in a "planned community" who planned to use UniSolar standing seam metal roof in the design.. The architectural review folks reviewed the plans and were fing with the renderings/elevations, etc - until someone found out that the UniSolar roof also is a solar collector. Their heads suddenly exploded and the design was subsequently denied! He would up selling the lot and buying a parcel out in the county... Damn stupid...

[jpak]

2. AP article...

Zoning Rules Thwart Gore's Solar Dreams

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2007/mar/20/032001125.html

BELLE MEADE, Tenn. (AP) - Zoning rules in Al Gore's upscale Tennessee neighborhood have prevented the former vice president and environmental activist from installing solar panels on his roof.

Gore bought his multimillion dollar home in 2002 in Belle Meade, an exclusive city encircled by metropolitan Nashville, and he has embarked on an ambitious renovation. But his contractors ran into a legal barrier last summer when they sought to apply for a permit to install solar panels on the roof.

Terry Franklin, Belle Meade's building officer, said the town only allows power generating equipment to be placed on the ground level. "Solar panels are generators," Franklin said.

"We told them they couldn't do it," he said. "They wanted to try anyway, but we convinced them it was something the board wouldn't allow."

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[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

3. STOOOOOOOPIIIID!... n/t