Boulder City Council on Tuesday approved an emergency ordinance allowing the city to install a solar power generation system on a downtown parking garage.

Council made a tweak to how accessories to structures, like solar panels, are accounted for in relation to building height limits.

Prior to the change, officials interpreted the rule to mean a solar panel attachment could only increase the building’s height by 10 feet from a top floor’s or roof’s lowest point. Such an interpretation limited how much space solar equipment could take up on a parking structure, where the top floor is usually slanted so cars can ascend and descend.

Council OK’d allowing parking garages in nonresidential zoning districts to measure the 10-foot additional height limit from the highest point of the top deck to allow the solar project for the garage at 15th and Pearl streets to move forward.

The planned solar installation is part of a 2.5 megawatt portfolio of rooftop solar being added to 13 city facilities, which, when finished, will boost the total solar generation capacity on city buildings to 6.2 megawatts, according to a city staff memo.

“This portfolio will be owned and operated by a third-party investor, which allows the city to install and purchase solar power with no upfront cost. The project is possible because of tax credit financing,” the memo stated, adding the systems must be energized by March 31, to qualify for the tax benefit.