Solar panels are allowed as a permitted use in certain city districts but, "currently our code is silent on solar panels," City manager James Wieprecht said.

Interest was being raised in the business district in terms of ground-mounted solar panels and the city currently does not have anything in terms of setbacks. The city allows rooftop solar panels on residential properties and permits them in commercial industrial as an accessory use, Councilman LeRoy Hand said. So far, Taneytown has not been faced with any desires for ground mounted solar panels and does not have any setbacks in place.

The city would look at any solar requests the same way as any other property accessory structure. Solar panels are a permitted use in the state and Frederick County’s regulations allow for solar as a primary use in certain zoning districts, according to Wieprecht.

There have been a couple properties with "on again off again interest" in solar panels and the zoning administrator was recently contacted regarding an industrial property in the city for solar use. The question for the council, according to Wieprecht, was should city solar application be made easy, or a limited process to discourage applicants.

"We’re not looking to take on a solar project as a city, we’re simply looking at if people want to approve a property for a solar farm," separate from the city, the council will need to set how to zone and regulate it accordingly, he said.

Solar panels do not create noise, but also do not stimulate a meaningful extent of employment and likely will not generate the same level of revenue for the city that building an occupied structure might, he said.

As of August, the city did not have any draft language before them and Weiprecht looks for feedback from the Planning Commission and thoughts on developing any setbacks.

In addition to receiving feedback from the planning commission, the best first step for the city to take would be to reach out to the Maryland Municipal League to discover what other municipalities have done in this situation, Mayor Wantz said. Wantz also had questions pertaining to the environment including stormwater management and runoff.

A presentation is also expected in the coming months regarding the potential for solar energy to power the city wastewater treatment plant as well. The wastewater treatment plant is a high consumer of electricity and when the city’s current energy contract runs out the city can expect a substantial increase due to the increase in electrical rates, Wieprecht said.

In order to head off that increase, solar energy provider CQI Associates has been tasked by the city to put together a draft evaluation regarding a power purchase agreement for the council to review.

The city is obligated to reduce its energy consumption and has already addressed the low bearing fruit of energy projects including LED lights and high efficiency heat pumps. Now it’s time to tackle the high energy side of the equation, Wieprecht said.