Mary Langenfeld
Jim Winkle and Bonnie Schmidt fear a proposed apartment will cast too much shade on the solar panels they installed on their house at a cost of $15,000.
So who has a right to Madison’s precious sunshine?
It’s a key question over a proposed apartment project on South Park Street that would cast shadows on existing or future rooftop solar installations in the adjacent Bay Creek Neighborhood.
Madisonians are notorious for opposing development based on things like traffic, parking or whether new buildings fit with the “character of the neighborhood.”
But the solar energy issue is proving tricky in a city that is subsidizing residential solar projects at the same time it’s encouraging — and in most cases allowing — real estate developers to erect bigger buildings next to single-family homes.
“I’d like to think we can have both; more solar and higher-density development,” says Jeanne Hoffman, Madison’s facilities and sustainability manager.
In the Park Street case, the owner of the Jade Garden is looking to demolish the worn one-story restaurant building and construct a five-story, 39-unit apartment with 10,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space. The $7 million proposal includes a new Chinese restaurant along with 52 parking spaces for tenants and patrons.
While the development potentially conforms to the new city zoning code that generally allows taller buildings on major thoroughfares, it runs counter to guidelines approved by the Bay Creek Neighborhood Association, which is calling for a maximum of three stories. Any final decision rests with the city Plan Commission.
At five stories, the Jade Garden development would definitely cast longer shadows — especially on winter afternoons — on the solar installation on the back roof of Jim Winkle and Bonnie Schmidt’s modest two-story home on Emerson Street, three doors down from the development site.
The couple went all solar in 2007 and reduced their monthly Madison Gas and Electric bill to $0 (not counting the $19 fixed connection fee) as one of some 430 MGE residential or small commercial customers with solar generators. But they’re still years away from recouping their initial $15,000 investment.
“This is a great time to install solar because of all the incentives out there, but people aren’t going to do it if it doesn’t pay off,” says Winkle, a UW software engineer and small business owner.
If the Jade Garden proposal goes forward as proposed, Winkle maintains it will cut into the amount of electricity he can generate by at least 3 percent. He admits that might not seem like much but makes the comparison to a 3 percent drop in any kind of investment, like a 401(k) or savings account.
“The margins are so tight on residential solar as it is,” he says. “We’re not against the development, and I think everyone wants to see a new building there, just not something that is going to loom over the neighborhood.”
Legally, Winkle’s argument is a tough nut. State statutes do allow for solar customers to collect money if a new building blocks their sunlight, but they put the onus on homeowners to pursue their case in court.
And Madison ordinances do not specifically allow for consideration of solar installations when assessing development proposals — unlike Boulder, Colorado, which since 1982 has prohibited new buildings that would block sunlight.
Still, Natalie Erdman, director of the city Planning, Community and Economic Development department, says that even with the surge in urban development in Madison there are only a handful of cases where new buildings would adversely affect residential solar projects. “In part, that’s because our planners have encouraged development that steps down as it approaches a single-family neighborhood,” she says.
For example, the new Ideal Apartments on Drake Street are five stories along Park Street but scale down to two stories as the development extends back into the neighborhood.
Erdman says the city remains strongly supportive of solar energy and encourages developers to look for creative solutions, including possibly moving an existing solar installation from a home to the roof of the new building, where the panals could get more light.
Clean power advocates would certainly like to see some changes, especially considering Madison in 2007 was named one of 25 “Solar America Cities” by the U.S. Department of Energy. While the state’s 2009 renewable energy law signed by former Gov. Jim Doyle did provide some protections for existing solar and wind installations, stronger local regulations are needed, says Michael Vickerman of Renew Wisconsin, which is contracting with the city to run the MadiSUN program. Expanded in June, that effort now provides up to $20,000 in low-interest loans along with a group buying pool to help lower the cost for homeowners. So far, 350 households signed up to get more info on MadiSUN with 12 signing contracts. The goal is to get 15 by Nov. 1.
“With the development fever going on in Madison, we are only going to see more of these cases come up like in Bay Creek,” says Vickerman.
Nationally, the laws regarding solar energy and new development are varied, says Seth Zuckerman of Climate Solutions, a Seattle-based clean energy nonprofit. He says many states do allow owners of existing installations to negotiate an easement to keep their sun access from being blocked.
“But in practice it doesn’t always work out that way,” he says.
Alan Fish, who is representing Jade Garden owner Sue Juiang, isn’t convinced the Bay Creek neighbors have much of an argument when it comes to sunlight. He notes that the computer studies show just a small increase in shading from the development. “To be honest, the trees in the backyards block more sun than our building would,” he argues.
Fish maintains a five-story building is needed to provide the number of apartment units necessary for the project to make financial sense. The development site is narrow, he notes, making it difficult to reduce the height and maintain the density.
But any loss of sunlight would discourage Bay Creek resident Steve Keidl from moving forward on a planned solar installation. He’s already invested some $6,000 in a special electrical system and roof reinforcements while renovating an older home on Emerson Street.
Keidl also installed $12,000 worth of passive solar windows on the south facing-side of the house and is convinced the new building will make it hard to recoup those costs.
“It’s hard to estimate how much [the development] would extend the payback period, since my house will be in total darkness after noon in the winter months,” he says.
The wooden-fronted building at the corner of South Park and Emerson streets has housed Jade Garden since 2000 but dates to the 1930s, when it was Bee’s Tavern. Madison restaurateurs Jimmy and Tony Schiavo operated Bee’s from 1969 to 1985 when it became Antonio’s Restaurant.
The redevelopment plan includes the restaurant and three adjacent parcels all the way south to the gas station at the corner of Park and Olin Avenue. Developers are continuing to work with neighbors on the project, and Ald. Sara Eskrich, who represents the area, says a Sept. 8 meeting provided some good give and take.
“I’m encouraged,” says Eskrich, who has not yet taken an official position on the project.
