4-3-24 PB Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 DRAFT 150 151 And then also under built environment and energy, I mentioned we have a goal of expanding our renewable 152 energy usage. And one action item under this category is to work with our planning department to expedite the 153 permitting process for all new solar projects. I've already had some preliminary conversations with planning staff 154 just to talk through how we can modernize and simplify the standards for public and private solar installations to 155 really make it as user friendly and expeditious as possible. We've got a meeting on the books later this month to 156 talk through that and to draft some potential language for an amendment to the UDO. 157 158 And then a couple of strategies that I'd like to call out that are in the climate action plan as they relate to 159 renewable energy generation are our really popular and productive Solarize the Triangle program. This has 160 been a 2-year initiative—it's actually getting ready to wrap up the end of this month—that was designed with 12 161 local governments, including Orange County. And the idea was to provide a bulk-purchasing program, so the 162 more solar that is purchased, the lower the overall cost, so we were able to do that in partnership with an 163 organization called Solar Crowd Source. We also collaborated with Central Pines Regional Council to help us 164 administer the program, and Yes Solar Solutions from Cary was the contractor that was selected to do the solar 165 installations. So here you can see a nice little recap of some of our accomplishments related to that program. 166 We were able to get 143 new contracts signed to install solar on both residential and commercial buildings. And 167 all combined that totals almost$250,000.00 in annual utility bill savings,which is very significant, and 2'Y2 million 168 pounds of carbon dioxide are avoided annually as a result of this program, so this is definitely a program that we 169 want to continue. A really nice feature of this program that we were able to push forward was to procure some 170 funding from Orange County to apply to low-to moderate-income households so that we could make sure that 171 we were able to provide solar for those folks who didn't have the resources to do that. And I'm happy to say we 172 had our first installation done recently on an LMI home in the town of Carrboro, and they are just over the moon 173 about it, and we've got several more in the queue, so we're excited about pushing that forward in the coming 174 months. 175 176 Another project that we're also very excited about is our agrivoltaic pilot project. If you're not familiar with the 177 term agrivoltaics, it basically means putting solar up above crops that are growing below. The idea is we're trying 178 to harvest the sun twice, once for solar energy generation and once to grow the crops underneath. We're 179 partnering up with County Extension, and we're looking to implement this pilot project at Breeze Farm, which is 180 located in Hurdle Mills. Breeze Farm currently serves as an incubator farm for farmers who want to learn if this is 181 the right field for them to go into. It was designed to be a sustainable farm,and so it's a teaching farm, and so this 182 just plays perfectly into the overall mission of what the farm is all about. 183 184 Under the transportation focus area, we have an action of increasing the number of EV charging stations 185 throughout our community. And one thing that we've been looking at is seeing what our other local jurisdictions 186 are doing. I know that the City of Raleigh has recently put in some language to amend their UDO to require EV 187 charging infrastructure in new development for multifamily residential, for hotels, for standalone parking, and for 188 vehicle fuel stations. So I'm planning on—well, I actually already, I met with Cy a few weeks ago, and we talked 189 about this, and we're looking forward to drafting some initial language for circulation to see if we can do 190 something similar here in Orange County in that regard. 191 192 Also under transportation, we have another action of to develop our greenways and other trails between the 193 towns for recreation and commuting purposes. We really want to promote that connectivity, promote safety, and 194 sustainable modes of travel. So, again, going back to City of Raleigh, they also recently put in an amendment to 195 their LIDO that states for sites with greenway trails, pedestrian connections from the building or parking area to 196 the trail are required if their project is above a certain size or residential density. So, looking to adopt some 197 similar language that the City of Raleigh has done here in Orange County and seeing if we can help facilitate 198 those connections as well. 199