The controversy that started here in Sunnyvale, and that I wrote about in several posts has been settled. The Governor signed a bill yesterday that clarifies the "who planted first" legal battles that could be more frequent as solar power grows in popularity. State Representative Simitian of Palo Alto wrote the bill, the result of a backyard quarrel in Sunnyvale which grew into an expensive legal fight.
A law signed in 1978, when residential solar was rare, forced Sunnyvale residents to cut down two large redwood trees that had been planted prior to the installation of a neighbor's solar panels. After a failed mediation, and paying over $37,000 in legal fees, the tree owners gave up their fight. The new law now will protect any trees that were planted before a neighbor installs solar panels, and a solar panel owner who complains of trees planted after the installation can sue in civil court, but the tree owners are no longer liable on criminal charges, as the Sunnyvale couple were.
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