CAIRO — The Cairo City Council may move to ban ground-mounted solar panels in residential areas in a future ordinance following a discussion last week.

Current city ordinances allow both roof-mounted and ground-mounted solar panels anywhere within city limits, but City Manager Chris Addleton asked council members last Monday if they wished to see the latter banned in a proposed ordinance regulating solar panel usage. The question at hand was whether the city should consider limiting ground-mounted panels, which council members say can be large and unsightly, to agricultural and industrial zones only, or whether to ban them altogether.

A majority of the council members present at Monday’s meeting indicated that they did not wish to see ground-mounted panels in residential areas.

“It would be hard to sell me on residential ground solar panels in the City of Cairo,” said Council member Jerry Cox.

City attorney Thomas Lehman said he has already prepared a “pretty standard” draft solar panel ordinance which was delivered to Addleton earlier this month for his review following a request by council members that the matter be addressed. But Lehman said the current draft does not include any limitations on where ground-mounted panels can be placed.

Lehman suggested that any limit on ground-mounted panels not be based on zoning, but rather on the square footage of the property in question.

“I’m thinking somewhere maybe in the 100,000 square foot range, which would be two and a half acres,” he said.

Council members voted to implement a 60-day moratorium on solar panel construction last month to allow Lehman time to research the subject and propose action. In his preliminary research, Lehman discovered that solar panels legally can be considered structures, and are therefore subject to city zoning requirements applicable to structures.