The only way to get a city ordinance changed is by a large public showing of support. The vote is tomorrow, so please take 2 minutes today to email the Mayor and City Council members with a letter of support. EMAILS: sterrell@cityofallen.org, kkizer@cityofallen.org, rsedlacek@cityofallen.org, robermeyer@cityofallen.org, gcaplinger@cityofallen.org, jherald@cityofallen.org, bbrooks@cityofallen.org [TEMPLATE EMAIL you can copy/paste/edit] Dear Mayor & City Council Members, Please update the City of Allen ordinance that prohibits street-facing solar panels. The data doesn't lie - many many more people passionately care about allowing solar panels on street-facing side of the home. - City of Southlake sent out a survey and 75% replied in favor of solar equipment being installed on a neighbor's home. - Wellington HOA survey in Flower Mound was sent by the HOA Executive Board to all of their 2,332 homeowner members. 68.5% voted in *favor* of solar energy, with 72.1% in favor of allowing the solar panels to face any direction, without restrictions. - City of North Richland Hills survey showed more than 70% of the residents were in favor of solar equipment on homes, without restricting the direction they may face. - At the October 21, 2014 NCTCOG Solar Ready II meeting, Mr. Ismael Rivera, Chief Building Official for the City of Benbrook, Texas, gave a presentation on Benbrook's view on solar energy on homes and businesses. He told of Benbrook's path down the "aesthetics" restrictions, and that in mid-2014, Benbrook's City Council removed ALL aesthetic restrictions from their solar permitting process. He said the City of Benbrook found such aesthetic restrictions to be "unnecessary", and further stated "their citizens didn't want such restrictions". Again .. this is on public record at the North Central Texas Council of Governments website. Some further data that illustrates Allen's ordinance to be out of step with DFW: 1. 211 incorporated communities in the DFW Metroplex. 2. 38 communities have no website and could not be verified as to their solar "permitting" or "ordinance" status. 3. This left 173 communities to be researched. 4. The non-researched communities represent 60,343 people, or nominally 1% of the total Metroplex population. This means my research covered 99% of the Metroplex citizens. 5. Of the 173 communities, 166 utilize a basic permitting process for solar energy equipment on homes. This means 94.9% of all Metroplex citizens are able to install solar panels by simple permitting. 6. Only seven municipalities have a "restrictive" ordinance that limits the direction solar panels may face. Of those seven, six allow for a "Special Use Permit" process (aka "Conditional Use Permit" in some cities.) An example would be Southlake. 7. The City of Allen is the only municipality revealed in my research to totally prohibit street-facing solar panels. I implore you to update this nonsensical ordinance and allow solar panels on any side of a home's roof. [SIGNATURE]