The Administration's Plan for Solar...or Lack Thereof?

I, like Thomas, was excited to learn that if Oxy's solar project does not encounter any obstacles, our 2MW solar array could be up and running within the next year. After meeting with the administration however, I left a little disheartened. Not to put a damper on your enthusiam, but there are some roadblocks.
To date, much of the committee's focus, to my understanding, has been on developing a model with the chosen manufacturer so we can then provide the community with a more specific physical description of the array itself. This stage of the project is almost complete (although the administration seems to be agonizing over whether or not to proudly display a big O at the center of the array), but there remains a lot to be done.
As with any project, this one will likely encounter some critics. A number of our neighbors have been against Oxy’s development of Mount Fiji and its surrounding hills, fearing they will no longer get to take advantage of this open public space. While Professor Snowden-Ift assured us that Fiji’s trails will remain unobstructed by the solar array, Professor Drier continued to play the devil’s advocate and speculated whether others will complain about a potential decline in their property values if the array stands in the way of their views of Mount Washington and the surrounding sprawl that is Los Angeles. Regardless of the reasons for the potential opposition that the College may face, Professor Drier stressed the need to present the community with the positives before it can fire back with the negatives. Can we connect with local High Schools and develop a solar energy curriculum with the potential for students to visit Oxy’s solar array? Can we host workshops that will help our neighbors install solar panels on their own homes now so they can benefit from the LA DWPs solar rebates? Whichever path the college chooses toward community outreach, it needs to be done quickly before it holds a press conference announcing this laudable project to the public.
The neighbors seem manageable. The college has dealt with them before. But what of the legal system? Solar power is still in its infancy, and many are unfamiliar, even our lawyers, about the procedures that must be completed before we can actually build. Do we need permits?
While I must confess, I like things to proceed in an orderly manner, but it seems to me that these are the questions we should have raised before embarking on such a huge project. My hopes for a solar-powered Oxy are not shattered, but the administration's lack of a concrete plan does concern me a little bit.