Eat that gore haters... He has been trying since he bought the damn place to make it carbon neutral (or as close as he can get, while still making the home comfortable, etc) since he bought it.

The best quote:

Terry Franklin, Belle Meade's building officer, said the town only allows power generating equipment to be placed on the ground level. "Solar panels are generators," Franklin said.

Not all energy generators are alike.. Solar power panels produce little to no sound.

Later in the article they mention that the new bylaw allows that "Solar panels may be installed upon the roof of a building so long as they are not visible from the street or from any adjoining property". These people need to get over themselves.. solar panels aren't going to make the neighborhood into a slum... they've even developed solar panels that look like and are attached as roof shingles... with this new bylaw, they've effectively made those illegal if they can be seen. Stu

maybe he shouldn't have bought a giant mansion in the middle of a zoned neighborhood. He knew what he signed into when he bought the property, as does anyone who buys a property in a private hood.

I think you'll find (if you bother to check into such things) that many neighborhoods have such laws. Mine even does and we are a middle class neighborhood.

Regardless of where he chose to buy his house, such a law/by-law is out dated and should have been changed a while ago.

The US is a free country, he should be able to live where he wants and STILL be able to make his property carbon neutral.

No, if you live in a closed community, the board for the community makes the rules, and if they don't want the Gore Mansion to look like Battlestar Galactica it's their right to deny it and he was fully aware of the regulations when he signed the contract.

I'm not saying they are not narrow minded, they are. But they make the rules for their neighborhood, not Al Gore. Besides, he can buy some carbon credits from the Chinese and all will be well.

if you live in a closed community, the board for the community makes the rules

Then there should be a by-law that prohibits a closed community from refusing to allow it's members to be environmentally friendly. I'm not saying that they should be forced to allow members of the community to make their house look like "battlestar galactica" (awesome show, btw). But there are many ways to apply a solar solution to a house (like the solar shingles i mentioned (linkie) that would not affect the "beauty" of the neighborhood in a negative way).

Poor Al...

Cat, I agree about these private communities. They have to "allow" you to do anything. From the kinds of garbage cans you use, to the colors you can paint your house, to the use of lawn decorations. No thanks!

All I'm saying is anyone who builds or buys a house in these areas are fully aware of their regs and rules, and Al is no exception. I don't think he's fully aware of much, but I digress.