Mendocino County, CA Solar Energy: Expedited Solar Permitting (2026)

Under Sec. 035, an applicant may submit a rooftop solar permit application and fees in person, by mail, or electronically to the Department of Planning and Building Services. If the application satisfies the checklist required by Sec. 030, the Building Official deems it complete; an incomplete application draws a written correction notice detailing every deficiency. Once complete, review is administrative and nondiscretionary: the Building Official must approve the application and issue permits after fees are paid, though approval does not authorize grid interconnection, which the applicant must separately secure from the utility.

A discretionary use permit is triggered only if the Director of Planning and Building Services makes a written finding, based on substantial evidence, that the system could have a specific, quantifiable, direct and unavoidable adverse impact on public health or safety with no feasible mitigation; that finding, and any resulting use-permit denial by the Planning Commission, must include the basis for rejecting feasible alternatives. Either determination can be appealed to the Planning Commission, which is held to the same substantial-evidence and no-feasible-mitigation standard before it can deny the permit. The Building Official may also withhold issuance if there is an existing violation on record for the structure.