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ROH - 03/18/13 <br />RESOLUTION NO. 2013-012 <br />A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br />SANTA ANA AUTHORIZING A TWO-YEAR <br />CONTINUANCE OF A PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE <br />SOLAR INSTALLATIONS BY TEMPORARILY WAIVING <br />PERMITTING FEES <br />BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA AS <br />FOLLOWS: <br />Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines <br />and declares as follows: <br />A. For the past five years the City Council adopted a fee waiver program to <br />encourage solar installations for both residential and commercial <br />properties Citywide. The program's initial adoption resulted from <br />discussions with the City Council Development Committee and a desire to <br />broaden the City's environmental agenda. By all accounts the program <br />has been successful over the past five years in incentivizing solar <br />installations and should be renewed in order to continue supporting the <br />City's goals with respect to the environment and sustainability. <br />B. The two primary uses of solar energy include using the sun to heat water <br />and to generate electricity. Both rely on widely tested and proven <br />technologies, however their application has in the past been limited by the <br />high construction/acquisition costs compared to potential cost savings. <br />This dynamic continues to shift however given the ever increasing cost of <br />energy as well as various programs offered by both the State and local <br />utility companies incentivizing solar installations. <br />C. Prior to the adoption of the solar permit fee waiver the city processed <br />relatively few solar energy projects, less than five projects per year. This <br />number has increased substantially and in 2012 the City processed over <br />65 solar permit applications a 30 percent increase from 2010. This <br />increase is consistent with growth in solar projects statewide as California <br />leads the nation in solar installations recently reaching a major milestone <br />by installing over one Gigawatt of solar capacity, enough energy to power <br />100,000 homes. <br />D. The City's review of solar energy projects involves both plan check and <br />inspection services. The amount of time required for these reviews <br />depends primarily on the size and complexity of the solar installation. An <br />analysis of the type of solar installation requests received over the past <br />two years indicates that the vast majority of solar installations in Santa <br />Resolution No. 2013-012 <br />Page 1 of 3