Galesburg Reporter

The Monmouth City Council considered giving a special use variance permit to allow the local YMCA to add ground-mounted solar panels to its property during the council's Feb. 21 meeting.

The YMCA plans to install the panels because the administration believes it can reach 100% of their daily utility usage, which would provide a substantial savings and be environmentally sustainable. The panels won't have a battery backup, however, in case the YMCA loses power. Officials plan to mount some of the panels on the building and the rest be contained within a roughly 25-foot-by-212-foot area located within a 1.5-acre parcel. Still, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher voiced concerns about the lifespan of the panels.

"I mean, I'm not against solar," he said. "I just think that people are very short sighted on these things because they're going to not last as long as they claim they're going to last. And getting rid of them is going to be like getting rid of the plague. But that's just on a personal level. And I guess, from the standpoint of aesthetics and things like that and zoning, you guys can delve into that."

City code doesn't allow residential properties to have ground-mounted solar panels, nor do they have any other ordinance pertaining to such panels, Steinbrecher said. Some council members wondered why the city would allow a business to have such panels if residential properties can't, but after further discussion, the council recommended that the zoning commission draft an official, clear policy relating to solar panels in the city. The council also tabled the decision for the YMCA, deciding to wait until after a new ordinance is added.

The council also heard from a local resident who asked the city to an ordinance allowing residents to keep some chickens on their property, given the high price of eggs, as well as the fact that chickens can help reduce food waste. The council decided to consider the request with the idea that many other communities have changed local codes on such livestock.