Announcing a new resource Mendocino Coast residents can use to discover potential grid-scale solar development sites. I created this site to provide analysis to the Mendocino Planning Department that could help enable Alternative Energy Facilities, Offsite (AEF:O) overlays in Coastal Rural Residential (RR) zones.
The Mendocino Coast Solar site identifies over 70 candidate parcels in or near the Mendocino coastal zone that could accommodate a grid-scale solar facility. We learned that five Coastal RR-zoned parcels would become eligible under the adoption of a Local Coastal Program amendment granting this civic use.
Caspar Water Company is pursuing a grid-scale solar development on its parcel south of Fern Creek Road as a means to improve its financial stability. This site was the location of a 1920s residential development known as the "Knob Hill" of Caspar. We view it as essential that Caspar maintains its current relatively dense zoning plan, and we believe a solar development today will enable future residential development on this site.
Explore candidate sites
Use the interactive map below to examine grid capacity, zoning, and potential solar sites along the Mendocino Coast.