LIPA offers town $15,000 to reduce solar permit fees

LIPA is offering to give $15,000 to any Long Island township that passes legislation by Dec. 31. to fast-track the permit process for solar panels on residential dwellings.

The legislation would either waive the current $150 application fee for solar panel permits or reduce it so that it does not exceed $50, and it would also require the solar panel permit to be issued within 14 days of submission of a completed application.

“We’re making it easier for our residents to lower their utility bills,” said Councilwoman Jodi Giglio at the Town Board work session Thursday, where the LIPA incentives were first discussed.

“It also increases the value of your home,” added Councilman George Gabrielsen.

The legislation will apply to residential structures that have only one layer of roof shingles. Homes within historical districts would not be eligible because they would need to undergo landmark preservation review, which would not allow the permit to be issued within two weeks.

“We are 100 percent behind this,” interim building department head Sharon Klos said in a telephone interview Friday. “By originally dropping the fee to $150, we were already trying to give residents an incentive to ‘go green,’ but I think it’s great that LIPA is helping givie them an even greater incentive with this new legislation.”

Klos went on to explain the steps that the building department is taking to make this legislation possible.

One potential problem discussed during the work session, for example, was that current department policy makes the issuance of any permits dependent upon legalizing all other structures on the property. Because additional structures on residential properties, such as pools and sheds, would not fall under this fast-tracking legislation, the policy could hamper the 14-day issuance of solar panel permits if illegal structures already exist on the property.

To resolve this issue, Klos explained that the building department will adopt a new procedure that will make only the certificate of occupancy dependent upon getting permits for other structures on the property, not the permit itself. With the permit issued within 14 days, Klos said, the applicant can still install the solar panel and begin reaping the benefits of the incentives of “green energy,” even without the certificate of occupancy.

“The budget is so tight,” said Supervisor Sean Walter at the work session yesterday. “On Wednesday I was scrambling to cut $75,000 out of the budget. That $15,000 will be a really good thing.”