Town of Tonawanda lawmakers are calling for a temporary ban on solar energy facilities as planners work on a local law to regulate them.

The Town Board on Monday scheduled a public hearing on the proposed moratorium, which would cover solar energy facilities with a generating capacity of greater than 25 kilowatts. The hearing begins at 7:30 p. m. March 22 in council chambers at the Municipal Building, 2919 Delaware Ave., Kenmore.

In December, the Town Board authorized Wendel Duchscherer Architects & Engineers to come up with solar energy farm regulations.

The Town Code already has provisions for solar energy systems.

In general, they are subject to the minimum setbacks, offsets and lot area coverage of the zoning district in which they are proposed. When it comes to height, systems installed in residential areas can’t go beyond 5 feet of the permitted building height. In other districts, height is restricted by limitations placed upon signs.

At a Planning Board meeting in January, planning consultant Fred Frank said that wind or solar farms may be considered a public utility when applying for a use variance — an exception to the law — if provisions are not in place to regulate them. The legislation being drafted would apply to commercial and utility-scale systems.

A solar farm is part of the plans for the Riverview Solar Technology Park — formerly known as Riverview Commerce Park — where 50 of the park’s 180 acres have been set aside for solar energy collectors that will generate 10 megawatts (10,000 kilowatts) of power for use on site.

It was not clear late Monday what the the moratorium’s impact on those plans would be.