This is my first post in a series on common issues that cause renewable energy projects to be denied land use permits and what developers can do to overcome each issue. The problem for today is siting in medium density areas that already have a prescribed land use. More specifically, in some regions, particularly on the East Coast, not enough rural land is available and projects are forced to be located on smaller parcels in established communities.
This permitting challenge is characterized by local jurisdictions having zoning laws that are hard to overturn due to the long history of the land use and the proximity of residential and other sensitive land uses near the projects. The first option for the developer is to site projects only in acceptable zoning locations or in disturbed areas that would receive no objection for the changing land use. This means that all other factors should be secondary, such as: land cost, buildability, transmission capacity, and parcel size. This method would work mainly in areas where PPAs are high enough to justify the smaller scale and other cost sacrifices.
The other option, which is usually even more difficult, is to appeal to the local government on the grounds that renewable energy projects fit their political objectives. A few angles to take could be economic development, limiting further housing density, or environmentalism. This siting strategy opens up more potential properties but requires the developer to invest more time and money in the project before getting an answer.
Completing projects in areas with restrictive land use rules is primarily a question of volume; the more projects the developer pursues, the more projects that will ultimately succeed. Having strong local government relations can also improve the chances of a project getting its land use permit. In regions where rural land is available, siting in higher density areas should be avoided almost all cases. In regions where this type of project is the only option, developers who handle permitting risk and make reasonable sacrifices on other issues like land cost and buildability will be most successful.
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