When Rick Buss left his position as city manager of Maricopa, Arizona, to become the town manager of a 2,000-person, economically struggling town called Gila Bend in 2008, some people who know him personally and professionally wondered why.
But with a firm background in both technology companies and sustainable management, Mr. Buss had a vision: "There's no reason why Gila Bend, Arizona, can't be the solar capitol of the world."
So he got to work. He brought over a young talent from Maricopa, Eric Fitzer, to serve as his right hand man. Fitzer, Buss tells me, is particularly skilled with zoning and economic development, and working together they crafted a "Solar Field Overlay Zone" (SFOZ), which greatly reduced the complications for solar companies to develop the sun-soaked fields located within the town.
In addition, Rick worked with the town government to expedite the speed at which solar companies’ construction plans could get approved. Processes that usually take at least a year, and often several years, can now go through public hearings, citizen review sessions, planning and zoning commissions hearings, publication in a newspaper, and council approval in as little as four weeks.
"We aren't even seeing that kind of consistent speed for permitting approvals in the residential sector," said Energy Department's Solar Market Transformation Lead Jennifer DeCesaro. “Whether we're talking about a small 5 kilowatt residential system or a large several hundred megawatt industrial system, lack of consistency and transparency in solar permitting is a challenge for every market sector in this country.”
Fonte: White House