Neighbors Upset New Oakdale Golf Course Solar Panels Are Obstructing View

OAKDALE (CBS13) — Giant solar panels going up next to one family's home has left them feeling powerless.

The Oakdale Golf and Country Club is installing the 14-foot tall solar panels, leaving their neighbor livid.

"Mind boggling," said Craig Porter. "And I try to explain it people. I just tell em drive by. Your eyes will say everything, that I need to say."

They are as clear to see as the sun is bright.

"Now we're living in a situation we can't control it—it's extreme," he said.

The panels are going up just across the Porter Family property on land owned by the Oakdale Golf and Country Club.

"We feel bad," said general manager Rick Schultz," but yet, it's all on our property. It's the only place we could actually go."

The country club says the panels will save money on their energy bill. No one disputes that savings comes at the expense of the Porters' view.

"Big business has come to Oakdale, and nobody's representing the residents of Oakdale," Porter said.

"We're trying our best to be good neighbors but yet we have an opportunity to save a lot of money," said Schultz.

The Porters complained to the county, but county planners confirmed the country club has the right to install the panels at the location, citing the Solar Act of 1978.

"The solar panel act allowed them pretty much to walk on water," Porter said.

It's a power play turning neighbor against neighbor.

The Porter family says they've been left with no choice. They no plan to sue. The country club, the solar business, and the county.

The California Solar Rights Act limits the ability of local governments from preventing installation of solar energy systems.

The country club says it's offered extra landscaping and fencing to the Porters to mitigate the impact of the solar panels.