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SALT LAKE CITY — More than a year's worth of negotiations among homeowners associations, lawmakers, the solar industry and would-be property owners produced a compromise legislative proposal that received unanimous support Friday.
SB154, sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, requires homeowners associations to specify upfront if there is a prohibition against solar panels through declarations made to the buyer.
If there is not a specific prohibition against solar panels, the association cannot deny a property owner's right to have a system installed unless a new rule forbidding them receives 67 percent of the vote by association members.
Lincoln said he believes the bill, if passed, will add clarity to both homeowners associations and property owners on the issue of solar panels.
"I believe we landed on the right policy," Fillmore said.
The Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Committee voted 7-0 to advance SB154 to the full Senate for consideration.
The measure would not apply to existing homeowners association rules on solar panels and will not be used in the case of condominiums or apartment buildings. It also grants homeowners associations the right to impose "reasonable" restrictions, including size and distribution of the panels.
"It is a small step in the right direction," said Kate Bowman, with Utah Clean Energy.
While other states grant much more latitude over solar panel installations, Bowman said Fillmore's bill will help address the frustration felt by both sides.
But Peter Harrison, an attorney who has represented multiple homeowners associations, said the proposal ignores decades of rules that recognize the associations have a right to govern the aesthetics of their communities.
"As currently drafted, this bill invites litigation," Harrison said. Email: amyjoi@deseretnews.com Twitter: amyjoi16
