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player ready...The Wauconda Village Board unanimously approved an ordinance that started the process of bringing an unincorporated 62-acre parcel into the municipality.
The April 7 action effectively seeks to halt the placement of a proposed solar panel farm next to a residential subdivision along Gilmer Road.
Wauconda officials were initially unaware of the project until last month. Madison, Wisconsin-based OneEnergy Renewables indicated an interest in building a five-megawatt solar energy facility at that location.
“The village received formal word of the potential solar utility system to be located in unincorporated Lake County, directly behind the homes of Wauconda residents, during the company’s due-diligence phase,” Village Administrator Allison Matson said.
The proposal calls for solar panels to be just 150 feet from existing homes.
“The long-term comprehensive plan calls for the land to be developed as low-density residential, should it ever develop,” she said. “The village is pursuing annexation to mitigate the risk of the property developing in a manner inconsistent with our long-term plan.
“If the village is successful in annexing the property, it will be zoned residential,” Matson said.
The ordinance follows state law in authorizing the involuntary annexation of unincorporated land that is more than 10 acres. The land must be subdivided into lots, and in proximity to village boundaries on three sides.
The parcel’s location is adjacent to the Liberty Lakes subdivision, and not consistent with the village’s master comprehensive land use plan, although under county jurisdiction. North of the village, the acreage was intended for low-density residential housing with an R-1 (residential) zoning designation, barring industrial uses such as solar utility facilities.
“This ordinance actually starts the process, and doesn’t necessarily finish the process,” village attorney Stewart Weiss said. “The Illinois Municipal Code gives municipalities the power to annex (unincorporated) property. It would be followed by a petition to the Lake County Circuit Court to give objectors an opportunity.”
Wauconda’s village clerk must submit a certified copy of the ordinance to the Circuit Court, where a public hearing is convened within 30 days. After the hearing, should the court approve the ordinance, it returns to the Village Board for a second vote.
However, if 10% of the residents sign a petition within 30 days, the annexation can be placed on a referendum ballot in the upcoming municipal election. If no such petition is filed, the annexation is finalized and the property is incorporated into the village.
The entire process is expected to take up to 90 days, barring a referendum question being placed on the ballot.
The 62-acre parcel is being held in a trust capacity under the title AGT Trust Company.
“This has about nine sides. It’s an irregular parcel, but still bounded by the village on three sides,” Weiss said. “There is also a public right-of-way.”