Chapter 19.91 — SMALL RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOP SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM REVIEW PROCESS

• A. The following words and phrases as used in this section are defined as follows:

  1. “Electronic submittal” means the utilization of the City’s electronic permitting system.

  2. “Small residential rooftop solar energy system” means all of the following:

     • a. A rooftop solar electric energy system that is no larger than 10 kilowatts alternating current (AC) rating or 30 kilowatts thermal.

     • b. A rooftop solar energy system that conforms to all applicable State fire, structural, electrical, and other building codes as adopted or amended by the City and paragraph (iii) of subdivision (c) of Section 714 of the Civil Code, as such section or subdivision may be amended, renumbered, or re-designated from time to time.

     • c. A solar energy system that is installed on the rooftop of a single- or duplex-family dwelling.

     • d. A solar electric energy system that has been reviewed and approved by the City’s electric department for parallel interconnection to the City’s electrical grid.

     • e. A solar panel or module array that does not exceed the maximum legal building height as defined in Section 19.10.030 of the Roseville Municipal Code.

  3. “Solar energy system” has the same meaning set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 801.5 of the Civil Code, as such section or subdivision may be amended, renumbered, or re-designated from time to time.

• B. Section 65850.5 of the California Government Code provides that, on or before September 30, 2015, every City, county, or City and county shall adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for small residential rooftop solar energy systems.

• C. Section 65850.5 of the California Government Code provides that in developing an expedited permitting process, the City, county, or City and county shall adopt a checklist of all requirements with which small rooftop solar energy systems shall comply to be eligible for expedited review. The Building Official is hereby authorized and directed to develop and adopt such checklist as part of the Building Division’s policies and procedures for daily operations.

• D. The checklist shall be published on the City’s Internet website. The applicant may submit the permit application and associated documentation to the City’s Building Division by personal or electronic submittal, together with the administrative and building permit fees. In the case of electronic submittal, the electronic signature of the applicant on all forms, applications and other documentation may be used in lieu of a wet signature.

• E. Prior to submitting a permit application, the applicant shall:

  1. Verify to the applicant’s reasonable satisfaction through the use of standard engineering evaluation techniques that the support structure for the small residential rooftop solar energy system is stable and adequate to transfer all wind, seismic, and dead and live loads associated with the system to the building foundation; and

2. At the applicant’s cost, verify to the applicant’s reasonable satisfaction using standard electrical inspection techniques that the existing electrical system, including existing line, load, ground and bonding wiring as well as main panel and subpanel sizes are adequately sized, based on the existing electrical system’s current use, to carry all new photovoltaic electrical loads.

• F. For a small residential rooftop solar energy system eligible for expedited permit review, only one Building Division inspection shall be required, providing the system is in compliance with all applicable code requirements. The Building Division shall provide a checklist of applicable requirements as part of their policies and procedures manual for daily operations. This checklist shall also be available on the City’s website.

• G. A permit application that satisfies the information requirements in the checklist for plan submittal, as determined by the Building Official, shall be deemed complete. Upon receipt of an incomplete permit application, the Building Official shall issue a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the permit application and any additional information required to be eligible for expedited permit issuance.

• H. Upon confirmation by the Building Official of the permit application and supporting documentation being complete and meeting the requirements of the checklist, the Building Official shall administratively approve the application and issue all required permits or authorizations. Such approval does not authorize an applicant to connect the small residential rooftop solar energy system to the City’s electricity grid. The applicant is responsible for obtaining such approval or permission from the City’s electric department.

• (Ord. 5567 § 1, 2015)

The provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable. If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, word, portion or provision of the ordinance codified in this chapter is held invalid or, unconstitutional, or unenforceable, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any other section, sentence, clause, phrase, word, portion, or provision of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid portion. In adopting the ordinance codified in this chapter, the City Council affirmatively declares that it would have approved and adopted the ordinance codified in this chapter even without any portion which may be held invalid or unenforceable. If any section, subsection, phrase, or clause of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.

(Ord. 5567 § 1, 2015)