The Historical and Architectural Review Board ruled on their first solar power installation proposal at the Oct. 4 meeting.

Accompanied by contractor Patrick Shiner from Chiles & Sillivan and Christopher Fisher from O’Donnell Solar Co., homeowner Christopher Fowler was granted a certificate of appropriateness for the installation of solar panels at his residence at 41 E. Market St.

Thin solar panels with black frames are to be installed on the back of the gabled roof of the main house, a rear addition, the yard-facing roof of the two-story garage with an upstairs residential unit at the rear of the property, as well as the entire gabled roof of a one-story garage at the rear.

Citing national guidelines regarding solar panels, Historic Officer Joseph Phillips informed the applicants that, although it had southern exposure, it would be historically inappropriate to install solar panels on the front roof facing East Market Street as it is the building’s primary façade. It is also a main thoroughfare.

“Solar panels should be installed on rear slopes or other locations not easily visible from the public right of way.” The guidelines also recommended using low-profile solar panels laid flat parallel to the pitch of the roof to be as unobtrusive as possible. The garages at the rear of the property face East Walnut Street, which is considered a secondary thoroughfare.

Nik Nikolov and Joe McGavin questioned the applicants on how they propose to attach the panels to the slate roof of the two-story garage. Although it was possible, it was considered difficult and prohibitively expensive to install the panels over slate. McGavin pointed out that slate roofs need maintenance every two years, which would require removing the panels to gain access.

The COA allows for the removal of existing roofing where panels are being installed, including the backyard-facing two-story garage roof, with GAF Slateline Antique Slate shingles. The slate on the Walnut Street side of the roof remains.

Homeowners Margie Berns and Anthony Silva were approved for an already built decorative wood screen on top of an existing brick wall for their Town-Con unit at 155 East Market St. There was confusion on whether it had already been approved at the August meeting; it appears that they had only been approved for the Benjamin Moore Cushing Green paint for it. Voting was 4 to 1 with Nik Nikolov as the dissenting vote. He said he considered the lattice fence design “not architecturally appropriate for the historical district.”

The Historical and Architectural Review Board regularly meets the first Wednesday of every month to review all exterior changes proposed to buildings in the Bethlehem Historic District north of the Lehigh River. When a proposed project receives a certificate of appropriateness from the board, applicants must wait for City Council to vote on it before proceeding. Meetings can be viewed on YouTube.