NYC relaxes zoning restrictions, opens 8,500 acres of parking lots to solar canopy development

This week, New York Metropolis handed landmark laws that relaxes restrictions on photo voltaic developments via a carbon neutrality zoning modification. This “City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality” zoning initiative will transfer town towards extra equitable and sustainable residing.

“New York Metropolis is a ‘Metropolis of Sure,’ and this historic proposal will pave the way in which for a extra sustainable future,” mentioned NYC Mayor Eric Adams. “By modernizing our metropolis’s zoning code, we’ve taken a daring step ahead in combating local weather change, whereas delivering cleaner air, decrease vitality prices, smarter waste administration and higher entry to EV applied sciences to New Yorkers throughout town.”

The brand new zoning rules abolish the protection and setback restrictions for rooftop photo voltaic installations which have traditionally hampered the growth of fresh vitality developments. With the setback rules pardoned for photo voltaic installations, large swaths of actual property that weren’t beforehand viable for photo voltaic improvement might be made out there – in some circumstances as a lot as doubling the sq. footage out there on one rooftop. This can lead to tens of millions of further kilowatt-hours of fresh electrical energy over the lifetime of programs.

As well as, the regulation will permit for solar canopies to be put in over the city’s 8,500 acres of parking lots, sufficient area for a whole lot of further megawatts of fresh vitality manufacturing – sufficient to energy tens of hundreds of properties and condominium items in New York Metropolis.

Provisions to the zoning legal guidelines additionally supply a boon to property homeowners within the metropolis. Decrease utility prices related to the set up of photo voltaic will improve earnings and drive actual property values.

Commenting on passage of “Metropolis of Sure,” Brooklyn SolarWorks’ founder and CEO T.R. Ludwig mentioned, “This can be a landmark second in New York’s effort to spice up inexperienced applied sciences and help carbon neutrality. Photo voltaic vitality’s potential will now be absolutely realized as a renewable vitality useful resource for all New Yorkers. By eradicating zoning restrictions that held again set up of photo voltaic panels on many properties, hundreds extra New Yorkers will have the ability to get pleasure from the advantages of photo voltaic vitality. We applaud Mayor Adams and Metropolis Council for taking this historic step ahead in the direction of a greener and extra vitality environment friendly future.”