Stockade resident pursues rooftop solar array, despite rejection

For the first time in the Stockade neighborhood, a homeowner is seeking approval from the Historic District Commission to install solar panels on the roof of her home.

Mabel Leon, who lives at 22 Front St., is working with Solar City on a proposal to put solar panels on the roof of her house to save energy and help the environment.

The Historic Commission shot down the project during a meeting in October by a vote of 3-2. Leon plans to gather additional information for her proposal and then bring it back to the board, which now has a full seven members.

“They said they would allow me to come back,” Leon said. “But the feeling was that anything you do, if it is visible from the outside of the house and you can see if from the street, is not something they want to entertain.”

Leon said she does not plan to return to the commission until she has more information and possible alternatives. In the meantime, Solar City is researching other historic districts that may allow solar panels, she said.

To avoid the issue of seeing the solar panels from the street, Leon said it might be possible to install them on the roof toward the back of the house. But the design of the house limits Solar City’s options, she said.

“I thought they wouldn’t be that visible and I thought there was a good chance it would be OK,” she said. “I believe in solar panels because they are an alternative to fossil fuels. I feel that issue is critical upon all of us to survive on this earth.”

Earlier this month, commission Chairwoman Marilyn Sassi said she is opposed to Leon’s proposal to put solar panels on the roof of her home. She noted that the Clifton Park Historic Commission outlawed the option.

“I was totally against it to begin with,” she said. “If you want solar panels on your home to save energy, you don’t belong in a historic district.”

The proposal for solar panels comes after the Historic Commission approved raising a home in the Stockade at 4 Washington Ave. out of the 100-year floodplain.

The commission took nearly half a year to discuss Meredith Anker’s proposal to lift her home 61⁄2 feet and push it back 15 to 20 feet. Anker was the first homeowner to seek approval to move her home.

The Schenectady Historic District Commission, a seven-member body with members appointed by the mayor, is tasked with preserving the historic integrity of the Stockade, which was settled by the Dutch in the 1600s.

Homeowners who live in the Stockade neighborhood are required to receive approval from the commission to make visible changes to their homes, which are usually minor, like changing windows, paint and railings.

Carol DeLaMarter, who was recently named the new president of the Stockade Association, said she believes Leon “is doing all of the right things” and supports her efforts.

She said the association as a whole has not discussed the project, but she would like Leon to talk at a future meeting about the proposal.

“There were a lot of questions, but she is certainly pursuing it for all of the right reasons,” she said. “She was trying to be able to do it so it wouldn’t be visible. There might be neighbors who would be interested in seeing that succeed.”

DeLaMarter said with recent proposals like raising a home and installing solar panels, the Historic Commission is bound by “outdated guidelines” on the federal level.

“Guidelines for being on the historic registry have not been able to keep pace with some of the newer things, like solar panels,” she said. “I think the same was true with elevating homes.”

As with Anker’s project, DeLaMarter said she believes that if Leon’s proposal gets approved, it would encourage other homeowners in the Stockade to do the same.

Leon has lived in her home on Front Street for nearly 14 years. She described the Stockade as a lovely place to live.

“It’s a pedestrian neighborhood, you know your neighbors,” she said. “Those things make for a very livable environment. There are also a variety of houses and houses that were built in different periods. People take pride in their property.”

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