Table of Contents

Age-Friendly Communities

Solar Energy

age-friendly communities

The town’s zoning code sets universal design standards and establishes a Senior Citizen Zone. §123-33 includes a detailed list of the universal design guidelines for senior housing and multi-family residential developments. Chapter 330, Article III establishes a Senior Citizen Zone for the purpose of providing mixed-use, affordable senior housing for the city’s growing population of older adults (§330-12). §330-13 and §330-15 set the land use and design standards for developments in this zone.

Solar Energy

The town's building regulations include an energy conservation code that requires all new or substantially reconstructed dwellings to achieve a minimum Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index rating based on building size (Sec. 123-37). In that article of the code is a section on residential solar installations that declares standard applications that meet fast-track requirements to be eligible for expedited review (14 days), exempt from permit fees, and exempt from architectural or historic design review (Sec. 123-39.1). Systems must be installed on a single-layer foot, flush-mounted no more than 6 inches above the roof surface, and limited in gravity roof load. Systems and components must be certified, and a certified drawing and diagram of system location and components is required. The Town must maintain a list of all solar installations to be shared with first responders.