A developer has withdrawn an application to build a solar farm on about 10 acres of agricultural land on the southeast side of Yorkville, but may redesign the project, city officials said.
Aldermen are supportive of solar energy, they said. However, they didn’t like the proposed location because its was too close to a residential area.
Cenergy Power has been seeking special use permit approval to install and operate 7,000 solar modules with a maximum height of 7 feet on farmland it wants to lease near Routes 126 and 71.
The property is part of a 91-acre site that was zoned for Windmill Farms, a planned unit development that came to a halt at the start of the 2008 recession. Several parcels are now under new ownership.
The developer recently withdrew the application after hearing the objections of five of the eight City Council members.
“The petitioner is going to regroup and maybe redesign the plan and resubmit. Right now, it’s on hold,” Krysti Barksdale-Noble, Yorkville Community Development director, told The Beacon-News.
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Aldermen discussing the issue at committee meetings were concerned about the visual impact the solar farm would have on the nearby Raintree Village subdivision, which has single-family homes, multi-family units and condos.
Barksdale-Noble said the developer is looking at ways to mitigate the aldermen’s concerns by moving the project closer to Route 71.
Barksdale-Noble said parcels owned by the previous developer on the site were foreclosed. She said Oswego Family Church recently purchased three parcels and is looking to renovate a building, possibly for the start of a new worship facility, and to lease another parcel to Cenergy Power for a solar farm.
Cenergy Power Director of Project Development Chad Chahbazi told aldermen the company has been in business 11 years and has developed and engineered 300 solar farms across the country, including 10 projects in Indiana.
Chahbazi said solar fields generate funds back into the local government and create jobs in the community. He said the power generated would be sold to local entities.
“It’s a multi-faceted economic benefit,” Chahbazi said.
He said the company still has to get an intergovernmental agreement with ComEd and get a special use permit from Yorkville. He said they received permit approval for similar sized solar fields from a number of municipalities, including Lake in the Hills, Machesney Park and Zion.
Aldermen were skeptical on a number of issues related to the proposed project.
“When we talk about generating local jobs, I think that’s more like initial excavation and landscaping work. I think it would be 10 acres that would be cut-off and sit there,” Ald. Joel Frieders said.
Frieders took issue with a comment that the solar farm “does not anticipate” causing glare on the surrounding area.
Chahbazi said the company could do a study about the issue to alleviate concerns.
“The systems are designed to absorb the light not reflect. There is absolutely no reflection on the system,” Chahbazi said.
Chahbazi said the company relies on local resources to conduct regular quality checks as part of operation and maintenance of the system, which creates jobs. He said the solar field would generate property tax revenue as well.
Ald. Carlo Colosimo said Kendall County is a rural farming community yet the site selected is less than 400 feet from residences on Hampton Lane.
“If you live on Hampton Lane and look out the back window of your house, you are going to see 7,000 solar panels,” Colosimo said. “The sun hits every square inch of our county. I don’t understand how this site was selected to put something less than 400 feet from a backyard. I like solar power. I think it’s a great idea. I just think the location is horrible.
“… No matter how you sell it, it’s less than 400 feet from the road or townhomes. When people move by a farm and complain they can smell the pigs, I don’t care. You move by the farm, you’re going to smell the pig. These people will suddenly have 7,000 solar panels. I have a problem with that. I cannot support it,” Colosimo said.
Ald. Chris Funkhouser suggested a redesign of the project.
“I can see the site being reconfigured to push it further off of the property line,” he said.
Chahbazi said they would be open to changing the site plan. He said given the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission has already given its approval, they were taken aback by the City Council’s response.
“We already put in a lot of time, money, effort and resources into this project,” he said. “We were a little bit surprised when we hit this road bump. This is the most challenging site that we have had up to this point.”
Barksdale-Noble said there is no time limit for the developer to resubmit the project for city approval.