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Council ultimately decided to move ahead with the process of making changes to the zoning code sought by the Pottstown Planning Commission which will subject both mainstays of modern life to scrutiny by the planners.
But they are not set in stone yet.
What council actually approved, with a 6-2 vote, was to advertise the changes and hold a public meeting on the topic.
"You have no further obligation with this vote than to publish a notice to hold a hearing and receive public comment," said borough bolicitor Charles D. Garner Jr.
"You can take no action afterward, vote to reject it or you can also amend the provisions in the proposed draft after you hear from the public if you like," Garner said.
Councilman Mike Wenzel, who cast one of the votes against holding the hearing, said he believes "we should be encouraging solar panels, not making them harder and more expensive to install."
"I agree," said Borough Council President David Garner. "In these days of high energy costs, we should be careful about how we regulate solar panels. We should work with the technology."
"But the technology has not caught up yet," countered Councilman Stephen Toroney. "Right now, in order for solar panels to be effective, you almost have to cover the entire roof. We've got to get a jump ahead of this until the technology catches up," he said.
"We need to ask ourselves, do we want an 8-by-8 panel on top of the roof of one of our landmark Victorian homes?" Toroney said.
"And we're not outlawing it, we're just saying it has to go before the planning commission," he said.
Councilman Mark Gibson cast the second vote against holding the hearing.
The same procedure is also on deck for a zoning change regulating the use of LED signs in the borough. The issue arose months ago when such a sign was erected along Jackson Street at the new Mount Olive Baptist Church and there was some debate about whether the borough's current sign ordinance prohibits such signs or not.
Council recently declined to take a position on a request for a similar sign to be erected outside the Pottstown YMCA and sent it to the zoning hearing board without comment.
Some say it prohibits the signs and others, only the moving displays on the signs. The change recommended by the planning commission would ban them altogether.
The rationale for such a ban is that the constantly moving letters and images on such signs are distracting and thus, a traffic hazard.
In this case, it was Councilman Jody Rhoads who opposed the suppression of modern devices.
"Instead of being afraid of these types of signs, we need to make them work for us," Rhoads said.
"Pottstown has many empty stores in town. If we don't watch what we're doing, potential businesses will get the signal and maybe they already have, that Pottstown does not want them and others may just pack up and move if you come down on their advertising," he said.
"What do we want," Rhoads asked council, "an empty town without signs, or a bustling community with advertising that will bring life back to our main street?"
The public hearings are likely to be scheduled for one of council's two meetings in November.
