Will County Land Use & Development Committee met Nov. 9.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
I. CALL TO ORDER AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM
Chair Tyler Marcum called the meeting to order at 10:33 AM
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Tyler Marcum | Chair | Present | |
| Amanda Koch | Vice Chair | Present | |
| Steve Balich | Member | Present | |
| Kenneth E. Harris | Member | Present | |
| Judy Ogalla | Member | Present | |
| Jacqueline Traynere | Member | Present | |
| Tom Weigel | Member | Present |
Matt Guzman was present from the Will County State's Attorney's Office.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Kenneth Harris led the Pledge of Allegiance.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. WC Land Use & Development Committee - Regular Meeting - Aug 10, 2021 10:30 AM
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0, with no corrections or additions.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Jacqueline Traynere, Member SECONDER: Tom Weigel, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0, with no corrections or additions.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Steve Balich, Member SECONDER: Kenneth E. Harris, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
1. Ordinance Amending the Will County, Illinois Zoning Ordinance Adopted and Approved September 9, 1947 as Amended for Zoning Case ZC-21-060, Allen J. Crisco Living Trust, Owner of Record, (Lauren Kelly, 33% Interest; Paige Crisco, 33% Interest; Joshua Bull, 33% Interest); Valerie L. Crisco Living Trust (Lauren Kelly, 33% Interest; Paige Crisco, 33% Interest; Joshua Bull, 33% Interest) and Allen J. Crisco and Valerie L. Crisco, Trustees, Agents; Requesting a (M-21-018) Zoning Map Amendment from A-1 to R-2A, for PIN #01-24-10-300-004-0000, Located in Custer Township, Commonly Known as 23724 IL Route 113, Custer Park, IL, County Board District #6
(Lisa Napoles)
Lisa Napoles presented Zoning Case #ZC-21-060, which takes place in Custer Township.
This is for a Map Amendment from A-1 to R-2A.
The owners are Allen J. Crisco Living Trust (Lauren Kelly 33% interest; Paige Crisco 33% interest; Joshua Bull 33% interest) and the Valerie L. Crisco Living Trust (Lauren Kelly 33% interest; Paige Crisco 33% interest, Joshua Bull 33% interest) with Allen J Crisco and Valerie L Crisco Trustees, acting as agents.
The owner is seeking this Map Amendment to bring a non-conforming parcel into conformance in order to obtain a Building Permit for a garage.
The subject parcel is located on the north side of West Route 113, west of South Schenk Road in Custer Township and is deficient in lot area and lot frontage for the A-1 District, which makes the parcel illegal, nonconforming.
The parcel is improved with a residence with an attached garage and shed.
The owners applied for Building Permit #2101788 in June of 2021 to enlarge the attached garage.
In the process of reviewing the Building Permit application, Staff determined that the parcel is illegal, nonconforming.
In response to Staff’s review, the owner applied for this Zoning Case requesting a Map Amendment from A-1 to R-2A to rezone the property, in order to bring it into conformance with residential lot and building standards under Section 155-3.30 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
Staff evaluated the existing uses and zoning classifications within a one-mile radius of the subject property. Within this radius, the uses of the properties are agricultural, residential, institutional, and commercial within unincorporated Will County and the City of Braidwood. Residential uses include stand alone residential parcels within Will County, and the Braidwood Recreation Club is the commercial use in the County. The institutional uses are the Will County Forest Preserve Districts Kankakee Sands Preserve and a portion of the Reed Custer High School campus in the City of Braidwood.
Within a one-mile radius, the Zoning Districts include A-1, A-2, E-1, E-2, R-1, and C 6 in unincorporated Will County. In the City of Braidwood, the Zoning District is R 1 for single-family residential.
Due to the relatively small size of the parcel, it would be suitable only for small scale accessory agricultural uses permitted with a principal residential use under the current A-1 zoning classification. As the parcels current use is exclusively residential, which is permitted as a right in the A-1 District, it is suitable for continuing that use.
However, since the parcel was created deficient for lot area and lot frontage, it is an illegal lot.
Permits cannot be issued until the parcel is brought into conformance with zoning standards.
The current parcel was created as a 30,600 square foot parcel in 1967. Since that time, the general trend in the area has been for the division of agricultural parcels for stand-alone residential development.
Starting in 1990, parcels in the area have been re-zoned to E-1, E-2, and R-1.
The request is in conformance with the County’s Land Resource Management Plan (LRMP).
Per the LRMP, the subject site is identified as on the cusp of Suburban Communities and Rural Area Development Forms. Traditional Residential is an appropriate use within the Suburban Communities Development Form.
The City of Braidwood and Custer Township have not developed comprehensive plans for which future land use maps have been prepared.
Staff is recommending approval of the Map Amendment request.
Of the agencies that were notified and provided comments, none objected.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources submitted recommendations to avoid adverse impacts to a threatened species, the Ornate Box Turtle, which are included as an attachment to the Staff Report. The IDNR stated that if the recommendations are followed, impacts are unlikely.
This completes Staff’s analysis.
Chairman Marcum asked, does anybody have any questions?
No response.
Chairman Marcum asked, does anybody from the public wish to speak on this Case?
No response.
Chairman Marcum said if the call-in user wants to speak on this matter, or anybody else in attendance, you can do so now.
An unidentified man said I have nothing to say.
Chairman Marcum said okay, thank you.
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Traynere did not respond to the Roll Call.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Tom Weigel, Member SECONDER: Steve Balich, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Weigel ABSENT: Traynere |
(Lisa Napoles)
Lisa Napoles presented Zoning Case # ZC-21-036, which takes place in Crete Township.
The subject parcel is a vacant property on Goodenow Road in Crete Township.
The owner of record is Goodenow Road West Solar 1, LLC (Eugene Jarvis 100% interest).
The agents are Kerri Williams of Greenberg Farrow and Justin Hardt of Borrego Solar System.
The applicant is seeking the Special Use Permit to construct a solar farm on the property.
Similar to previous Special Use Permit Cases for solar farms, this Zoning Case is a repeat request of ZC-18-029, which was approved by the Will County Board on August 16, 2018. As that Special Use Permit has expired, the special use approved under ZC-18-029 is null and void.
The applicant is requesting a new Special Use Permit to be able to construct the solar farm.
The subject parcel contains 80 acres and is unimproved. The property is zoned A 1, as are the surrounding properties, and is actively used agriculturally.
The applicant is leasing a 20.6-acre portion of the property from the property owner. Under the terms of the lease, the lease option is for an initial term of 540 days from the date of commencement. The option term may be extended for up to 2 additional years. After the option term, the lease will terminate after 20 years, with an option to extend the lease for up to four additional periods of 5 years each. The solar farm could potentially be on the property for 43 years.
Of the 20.6 acres of special use area, 15.7 acres will be enclosed by a 7-foot security fence which will not have barbed or razor wire.
The solar arrays will be mounted on a tracking system which allows them to rotate throughout the day.
Per the Site Plan, the electrical equipment area on the subject parcel will be located roughly 340 feet from the nearest property line.
Per Section 155-9.245 of the Zoning Ordinance, residences within 1,000 feet and the right-of-way must be screened. A copy of the Zoning Ordinance regulations are provided in the report packet.
The site will be remotely monitored 24 hours/day with the occasional site visit for maintenance.
If approved, the solar farm proposed by the applicants will be the third one located on this section of Goodenow Road. The previous 2 being located east approved through Zoning Case # ZC-18-030, and north approved through Zoning Case # ZC-17-036.
Of the agencies notified, Staff received comments from the Will-South Cook Soil and Water Conservation District, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Crete Township, which are included in your packets.
At the time of publication of this report, the Federal Aviation Administration Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation Reports were still in progress. Staff has added a condition requiring that these Reports be submitted at time of Building and/or Site Development Permit Application.
Conditions have been recommended, including that the owner/operator enter into an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement with the Illinois Department of Agriculture and that the development receive all necessary approvals from the Crete Township Highway Commissioner.
Under the Zoning Ordinance, a Decommissioning Plan will be required to be submitted at the time of Site Development and/or Building Permit Application. A copy of this plan is required to be provided to the property owner.
Staff is recommending approval of the Special Use Permit with 16 conditions.
It is Staff’s professional opinion that the operation of this special use will not be detrimental to the public and will not be injurious to the use of neighboring parcels. Conditions for landscaping have been added to ensure this.
This completes Staff’s analysis.
Chairman Marcum said thank you, Lisa. The first hand I saw was Judy’s, so go ahead with your questions and comments.
Judy Ogalla said one of my comments is simply the fact that the report given to us from Will-South Cook Soil and Water shows a topographical map of this site on the north side of the road, and this is on the south side of the road. So, it’s conflicting information that we have before us for that. I’m not sure what to look at here because it has both. When we look at the proposed location of the solar farm, it’s on Page 1 of the Staff Report, I see that this solar farm touches each property line. So, are we touching the property lines with the fence or are we off the property lines?
Lisa Napoles said the special use area does not touch the property lines. It does meet the required setbacks for the A-1 Zoning District, which is 50 feet.
Judy Ogalla said, so it’s 50 feet from the property line.
Lisa Napoles said it’s at least 50 feet from the property line. I would have to confirm that exact dimension.
Judy Ogalla said when we do these types of things, we do at least 50 feet. I wonder what’s going to happen to the land between the property line and where the fence is put up. There’s a concern there because we’ve been having trouble. The main thing I have people complain about is that they are an eyesore. They’re not necessarily an eyesore due to the solar panels that are there, but an eyesore due to the fact that there’s no crops growing in the area, but weeds are. There’s not enough space to get a combine and other farm implements in there to properly farm it. We don’t require any kind of maintenance for 2-1/2 acres. If a property owner seeks this, it’s to their benefit to have this on their farm because they’re getting paid a very good amount for leasing this property, which is guaranteed for the length of the lease. This is better than what you would get if somebody were farming it, because the product produced has a higher cost value. That’s one of my concerns. If you could answer that, that would be great. That’s my first comment and question.
Chairman Marcum said, just to clarify your question, it was regarding the maintenance of the property between the fence and the property line.
Judy Ogalla said right. If that’s not the responsibility of the solar farm, and it’s not large enough for a farm implement to get in there, that’s where these issues have been coming up. That’s what I have been told with the issues that are coming up, it’s not necessarily within the solar farm, but around the solar farm. So, I’m wondering if this whole blue area is the responsibility of the solar farm, therefore it would take them to the property line for this particular one.
Brian Radner said if the land is outside of the lease area with the solar company, then it is most likely going to be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain that area unless there’s some other agreement that we’re not aware of with the solar company. So, it is the property owner’s responsibility to make sure that the land is maintained. As we talked about before, and you mentioned a little earlier, there is an exemption for above 2-1/2 acres of not having to maintain your property with 10-inch weeds. There still is a provision in the Code that talks about noxious weeds. Those still cannot be there, it doesn’t matter what the acreage size is. For 2-1/2 or greater, it is allowed to have grass or other weeds above 10 inches, as long as they’re not noxious weeds.
Judy Ogalla said that’s a cost then to the County because we’re paying a noxious weeds guy, who will be going out as more and more solar farms come. The seeds from the weeds fly around, as we know, whether the wind or a bird are transmitting it. So, there’s a concern there that we’re allowing these property owners to get a Special Use Permit for their property and that property then is leased by the solar company. I think we should look at it that they’re a different use or different type than other property owners. It’s sort of like they’re having a special use within their use, right? So, I think we should have our State’s Attorney look at that, because this is an issue that’s out there. Then there’s another situation that I see at the front, at the north end. I see that it looks like the driveway might be in the middle of this property. Is that true?
Lisa Napoles said that is the Site Plan provided by the solar company. Judy Ogalla asked, why would it be in the middle of the parcel like that?
Lisa Napoles said that is the Site Plan that was submitted. That was also previously approved in 2018 to provide, I assume, the most convenient access to the arrays.
Judy Ogalla said here’s the thing, what we approved in 2018 is one thing. What we’ve learned now is the issues that we’ve had since the time we approved this, right? We’ve learned this, so I think now’s the time to say there’s something that we need to know. Why is it there specifically, rather than on one end or the other? If somebody’s farming this, I’m not sure how much space is up in that area to farm. Like I said, we’re having issues where the land between the road right-of way and where this lease begins from the solar company. That area ends up not being maintained in any manner because a piece of farming equipment cannot get in there to maintain it. I’m trying to find a way to correct that. So, I don’t know if we look into that, that the solar company should be responsible or not. Like you say there’s 50 feet between the fence and the property line. Although when I look at this diagram, it looks like its right on the property line. To me, the solar company should be responsible for that, but I’m also concerned about these 2 pie shapes up at the top. I’m not sure how much space is there. Do we know what that width is?
Lisa Napoles said at the narrowest point, the Special Use Permit area is 240 feet from the right-of-way.
Judy Ogalla said okay, so there wouldn’t be an issue there. But then, how does anyone farming get to the back part of that land, do we know that?
Lisa Napoles said the lease area is agreed upon by the property owner.
Judy Ogalla said I understand that. I’m just saying that it sets it up for really bad things. I’m not really happy with why they’re having the driveway in the center. I’m very concerned with the 50 feet between the property line and the fence. It looks like that’s entirely encompassed within the lease area, is that correct or not?
Lisa Napoles said the lease area is 20.60 acres. However, the actual space enclosed by the fence will be 15 acres, which will provide the space on either side for the landscaping requirements and access.
Judy Ogalla said okay, so what landscaping requirements do we have for this particular solar farm?
Lisa Napoles said screening must be provided per the Ordinance along the north side of the installation and the west side, because there is a residence on the adjacent property to the west.
Judy Ogalla said when you look at that, you see that property is quite a distance away from the house. So, we end up putting trees, shrubs, and stuff in the middle of a farm field here. That’s one of the things that I want to hear. What do the rest of you County Board Members and Land Use Committee Members think? Do you think that this is something we can continue to do? It wouldn’t be to the south or that angled area, or would that angled area be the entire frontage?
Jacqueline Traynere asked, can you make your screen a little bigger or something? I’m having a hard time figuring out where these trees are going.
Chairman Marcum said Brian’s going to work on doing that. Does anybody else have questions?
Steve Balich said I know Judy’s brought all this stuff up before. We keep getting solar farms and Judy has the same problems all the time with them. We keep passing the stuff and fixing it at the Board Meeting. Why don’t we do something where we can just address it at our meetings so it doesn’t go to the Board Meetings?
Chairman Marcum said the Ordinance has been assigned to the Committee for review. It was assigned at our last Executive Committee Meeting, so we will be going through that process. Really it’s up to the Committee if we want to keep passing them.
Steve Balich said why don’t we table it and let it come back in a month? That way we don’t have to be doing the same thing over and over and over again. Why not just table it? I don’t think this thing has to be approved and there’s no urgency to have it done now. We can probably wait a month, right?
Matt Guzman from the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office said he has already applied. I don’t think any changes that you make to the Ordinance now will be applicable retroactively to him because he has his application already in. So, at least for this particular applicant, that would be the case.
Tom Weigel said I think we should continue to screen if there’s residents in the area of the solar panels. I don’t think it’s something that they want to look at all day long, so I think we should keep that in our Ordinance.
Jacqueline Traynere asked, can you use your hand or your arrow or something to show me where these trees are going to go?
Chairman Marcum said he’s going to go to the Site Plan really quick.
Jacqueline Traynere said I had trouble with attachments this morning. I emailed Beth, but I think it was just because the internet was out in our area.
Chairman Marcum said while Brian’s pulling that up, if no other Committee Members have anything, I’m going to go to County Board Members.
County Board Member Rachel Ventura said I’d like to offer a suggestion. I do think we should continue on with this and whether or not we can apply the exception to this Case or not is up to Land Use. I would suggest having some type of provision that says if you are in the middle of a farm field, or all that is surrounding you is a farm field, and you’re “x” amount of feet from a residential area or there’s a berm or tree line, then you don’t have to apply the screening in the middle of the farm field. It negates it if you are on the edge of the field or if you’re by a roadway. That would still maintain all of that. There would just be one provision that you are adding to the Ordinance that says if the back end is in the middle of a farm field and you’re outside of 1,000 feet from any residential area and there’s other screening, then you could not provide screening on that one side. That could also be up to the solar farm people, maybe they want to keep it all enclosed, maybe they want some type of protective layer around their solar farm. So, it would be optional for them if all of those conditions were met. I kind of agree with Judy that it doesn’t make any sense if you have a farm and all of a sudden you’re putting trees there. Those trees do shade some other area of your farmland, which could be a positive or a negative. But, at the same time, if other people were in the area and they weren’t expecting to see a solar farm, we want to be cognizant of that. I think there’s a solution here and maybe Land Use can give us how far from a residential area would be applicable or give us some suggested language. That might help to solve everyone’s issues. Thanks.
Chairman Marcum asked, Jackie can you see what Brian pulled up?
Jacqueline Traynere said I can, thanks. I said this at the full Board Meeting last month, or maybe it was in Committee, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t happen to think solar panels are ugly. I have them on the roof of my house. If people in my neighborhood decided they were ugly and they passed an Ordinance saying I couldn’t have solar panels on the roof of my house unless I put up some sort of screening, I think I would be more than just a little bit unhappy. I understand the problem with the weeds and the mowing and we’re going to have to find some solutions to that. This constant talk of screening, I don’t get it. Solar panels don’t stink and they don’t produce an odor or an aroma. I’d be more worried about a hog farm frankly, than I am of solar panels. I’m going to be in favor of this person’s application and probably everybody else’s that comes along. Thank you.
Judy Ogalla said so Jackie, it’s not that I’m not in favor of it, but personally I think that solar farms should all be on top of warehouses and the land should be used for agriculture uses as they’re currently being used. I am not opposing it. What I’m saying is, is that we do require them to put screenings on this side, which I’m seeing now would be to the west. That west side kind of dips down and then goes across a bit and then comes back down south. Will screening be all along that side? Is that what the intent is?
Lisa Napoles said yes. The current Zoning Ordinance requires screening along the right-of-way and on the side facing any residential property within 1,000 feet. So, the residential property to the west is within 1,000 feet of this proposed installation. Only the north side and the west side of this installation would need to be screened per the current Ordinance.
Judy Ogalla said right and that’s why I’m asking. They’re 1,000 feet away, maybe less than 1,000 feet away and you’re in the middle of a farm field. Half the time a lot of these trees die because there’s no water sources out on a farm. If it was a pig farm Jackie, there would be water, but there’s no water because it’s just regular row crop that gets planted here. So, you don’t have a water source on most acres of farmland. As far as an eyesore, what people are used to seeing in a municipality or a small town or whatever, is much different than what people see out in the country. They’re used to being able to look at the beautiful countryside. So, it’s an eyesore if you live there. You don’t live there Jackie, so you don’t have that perspective that my constituents currently do. So, that’s why I’m concerned and I’m just questioning whether we want to continue requiring screening. I’m going to be speaking with the landowners in the area and I may be making an amendment on the County Board floor to possibly remove that screening. As far as the screening in the front, I think we should probably continue with that. So, is the red area all of the leased area, or is it the dashed area? I can’t tell specifically with this. Is it just the red or what?
Lisa Napoles said the red area is the project area, so it’s the area of the installation. The leased area extends out to the property lines as previously shown.
Judy Ogalla said the solar farm would be responsible for maintaining the area to the property lines for this particular solar farm.
Lisa Napoles said yes, that’s correct.
Judy Ogalla said then the property that’s to the north, they don’t have the whole area to the right-of-way easement, do they?
Lisa Napoles said they do not, they have a driveway.
Judy Ogalla said just the driveway of course. I know that they have to have the driveway. Then, as far as that goes, I will make amendments on the floor, similar to what we had last month. I guess I should ask this, do you think it’s appropriate that I make the amendment to make sure that the field tiles are marked prior to the installation and also, the number of times that they do the maintenance? Should this be done now or should I do all of the amendments at the County Board? What do you think is best?
Matt Guzman from the Will County State’s Attorney’ Office said I think that’s your discretion. Either way, you’re bringing it before the County Board eventually, it’s going to be approved by the County Board. I guess it’s really your discretion.
Judy Ogalla said okay, so what do you think Tyler? Do you want to do some of them now, or do you want to wait and have them all at once?
Chairman Marcum said hold on one second, Tom has something to say so I’m going to let Tom go.
Tom Weigel said I think that you should do the amendments now so that the County Board doesn’t have to ponder why it wasn’t changed at Land Use Committee.
Chairman Marcum said I would confer with that. Before you start making motions to amend, I want to let everybody finish and then I’m going to take public comment. After that, then we can do that, okay Judy?
Judy Ogalla said yes, absolutely.
Lisa Napoles said there are conditions that do specify the frequency with which the landscape has to be maintained.
County Board Member Judy Ogalla asked, what are those?
Lisa Napoles said they are in the conditions. I believe they are conditions 3, 4, and 5.
Chairman Marcum said I think the ones that we added to last month’s Board Meeting are added as conditions already.
Judy Ogalla said oh, I didn’t know that. Thank you.
Chairman Marcum said after our conversations, I think Staff had realized that it was going to be a topic of conversation for us. So, while Lisa’s pulling that up, I’m going to let Jackie go.
Jacqueline Traynere said I get that everybody has a different eye of beauty. We have issues here in the municipalities as well. If you drive around my community, you will see very ugly high-tension wires. If you drive through the older parts of the community, you will see electrical wires running through people’s back yards. These are not pretty to me and obviously they weren’t pretty to the community. As time evolved and the municipality grew, they made changes to the rules. I’m sure that the requirements that are in this one have been well thought out and are part of the process. I’m excited that we’re moving forward with more solar. As for the watering for the screening, I can tell you that we have so many trees in my community that get planted at a cost of at least $500 a tree and there’s water within 50 feet of those trees and nobody waters them. It’s despicable. So, even when there’s a water source nearby, sometimes watering just doesn’t seem to be people’s priorities. I’m really wanting to save our planet by switching from fossil fuels, which we are running out of and which tend to cause wars, to solar. Other than the initial investment on a day-to-day basis, the energy that’s produced is free. It doesn’t cause any pollution other than perhaps somebody’s visual perspective. This is what we call progress. So again, I’ll be voting yes to this and looking forward to hearing what those additional requirements are, but I think they’re the same as what we had last month. Thank you.
Lisa Napoles said if you go to the Staff Report provided to you, the Staff recommendations begin on Page 2. The 2nd and 3rd condition identify exactly where the screening has to be planted and what variety of plants need to be planted per the Zoning Ordinance. #5 states the owner/operator shall retain an agricultural specialist or an agricultural consultant to serve as part of the development and/or construction team. The agricultural specialist or agricultural consultant shall be retained prior to submission of the Site Development and/or Building Permit Application. Condition #6 is perennial vegetative ground cover must be maintained or established in all areas containing solar arrays and in required setbacks to prevent erosion and manage run-off in accordance with Sections 155-9.245 and 155-12.90 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance. Condition #7 is mowing shall occur 4 times during the growing season each year on the following schedule: end of June/start of July, end of July/start of August, end of August/start of September, end of September/start of October. Condition #8, the owner/operator of the solar farm shall maintain the areas located within the lease area, not excluding the areas located outside the fence lines. I can continue if necessary.
Chairman Marcum asked, does that answer your question Judy?
Judy Ogalla said what I didn’t see is the condition that the field tiles must be marked before any installation begins by a field tile specialist, which we did as an amendment last time.
Chairman Marcum said correct.
Judy Ogalla said I’ll make a Motion to amend that when you’re ready. Also, #7, which is the number of times it should be maintained. I’m going to be looking into this, because I’ve had some people suggest that maybe we should add one at the end of May as well. I’m not going to make that particular Motion now. The other Motion I would make for having the tile specialist mark out all the tiles beforehand. I do have another question, maybe for the company or person that will be developing it. How long does this installation take? Also, what hours of the day do the contractors work to do the installation? I do know that for those ones that are out there on Goodenow Road, some people have farm animals and they were disturbed by the noise, because they’re not used to those type of noises. So, what’s the time of day and what are the days of the week? If you can give me that information I would like that, thank you.
Chairman Marcum said that’s a good move to our public comment. I believe there’s somebody from the company here.
No response.
Chairman Marcum said I know that Maria Abney wanted to speak, so Maria you can go ahead if you still want to speak on this matter.
No response.
Judy Ogalla said maybe if she’s on her phone she doesn’t know she needs to *6.
Chairman Marcum said Maria Abney, you’re unmuted on our end if you’d like to speak on this matter. While we work on that, there’s a call-in user, if you wish to speak on this matter you can.
Charles Phillips introduced himself. I own the farm to the east. I agree with many of the comments of our local Board Member there, she has been very eloquent in expressing concerns. I just built a new house on my farm just a little to the east. I’m not sure if I’m within 1,000 feet or not, but I do have a lot of concerns about appearance. The noise during construction was particularly disruptive because the other solar farm that was built to the east is right along the border of my farm. We usually hunt those woods and of course all the deer were chased away by the construction noise. I guess I’m not totally against the idea of solar, but there seems to be proliferation right there. This is the 3rd solar farm right there next to me and they’re not particularly pretty to look at.
Chairman Marcum said thank you. Are there other members of the public that wish to speak?
No response.
Chairman Marcum asked, Maria can you hear us?
No response.
Chairman Marcum said if she comes back we will let her speak.
Judy Ogalla said I’d like to make a Motion to add a condition that a field tile specialist must come out prior to any installation, I guess that would be fencing and everything, and mark the tiles. This way the solar company and the contractors that work for them know where the tile lines are so they can prepare in advance for any issues that might come up if they would have a tile line in the way. They would need to make a plan to address that situation. So, I’ll make a Motion to ensure that a tile company has been contracted with and the tile lines have been marked prior to installation.
Steve Balich seconded the Motion.
Chairman Marcum asked, does anyone have thoughts on the added condition?
Jacqueline Traynere said she mentioned field tile specialist. I don’t know anything about these and if there’s a lot of them out there. I also don’t know how they mark them. If they do mark them, is this something that has to be re-marked after the installation? Is this like marking for JULIE, you know where they put the little flags out there and then a gust of wind comes along or somebody mows it over and that’s the end of it?
Judy Ogalla said well nobody’s going to be mowing over it. They come out prior to installation and the field tile lines are like JULIE in the sense that they won’t be moving. So, they would be wherever they marked them at. A lot of times they’ll use spray paint to paint the lines. It is kind of like JULIE, but there shouldn’t be any mowing in between the time that they mark it and the time of the installation. Whoever they hire to do the construction has to be aware of this. If they puncture that field tile then they have to repair it anyway. This way, they know in advance where the field tile lines are and maybe that way they can plan. Maybe they have to move a line, but then at least they’re away of it rather than causing a problem, which we don’t know about until it rains. If we have a dry spell, then there’s no water running through your tile lines most of the time. When a rain hits then you might have a problem, because if a tile is busted then you’re going to have a lot of water issues. It’s best to know that beforehand.
Chairman Marcum asked do any other Committee Members have any other thoughts before I go to non-Committee Members?
No response.
County Board Member Julie Berkowicz said I’m just wondering for something like a tile report like Judy was mentioning, does the County and the landowner get copies of those during the construction process? Then I had 2 other questions.
Chairman Marcum said I’m not sure if the County gets it, I would imagine the landowner would. Lisa, would that be provided to the County?
Lisa Napoles said yes. There is a condition, #15, in the upcoming Staff Report which addresses this. It does pull from the Zoning Ordinance requirements for field tiles if you could consult that.
Chairman Marcum said okay. Julie you can go ahead with your other question.
County Board Member Julie Berkowicz said okay, thank you. I asked that question just because I’m wondering if it isn’t provided to the property owner if it should. I just wanted to make sure that happens. Then, 2 questions that don’t necessarily apply to the approval of this particular project. It’s for informational purposes to understand it more. With the panels, I know they move and shift, do they create a glare at any time towards the other properties and possibly towards other homes? So, I’ve always wondered about that. Then the 2nd question that I have is whether or not the energy company, when they sell the energy, if they have to pay taxes to the County, or any sales taxes. Those are my 2 questions.
Lisa Napoles said a representative of another installation stated at the Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting that the glare is not an issue because the panels are designed to absorb light rather than reflect light. Therefore, to create glare would be counterproductive.
County Board Member Julie Berkowicz said great, thank you. I know that they tend to be very dark. Thank you, that was something that I was wondering. Does anybody have information on whether or not there’s tax on the energy that’s sold?
Chairman Marcum said I think that we can get that answer for you. I’ll make sure that somebody gets us that answer, but since it doesn’t have anything to do with the Special Use Permit I think I’ll just have it emailed out for information. I hope that’s okay.
County Board Member Julie Berkowicz said great, thank you.
County Board Member Rachel Ventura said I agree with Jackie that we want to make it more appealing to move to renewable energy. Anything that is preventing approval or the comfort of our County Board Members, we want to address those things. That being said, when we talk about the field tiles I think those are important. We want to make sure we have good drainage. Trees do help with that drainage as well as carbon capture. Some of the requirements we put in for native grasses help with both carbon capture and drainage, and these are all things that we desperately need. In order to try to find a solution between what Judy is saying and the other County Board Members like Jackie that says there doesn’t need to be any screening, to even a resident that was on the call today saying that he doesn’t want to see them, there is this compromise that we need to try to find. Initially, right now, it is 1,000 feet from what I’m hearing. So, does Judy want to suggest a new footage in which case they are within that? Or, I had another suggestion. That is, even if it’s within 1,000 feet, if the petitioner can get a petition signed by everyone within that 1,000 feet that has a direct view, saying that they don’t mind if there’s no screening and it’s in the middle of a corn field and all the other conditions are met, then perhaps they don’t need to put that up. If there is 1 resident in that 1,000 feet who said no, I don’t want to see it, I think we should still move forward with the solar panels but then those trees or some other berm would have to be created in order to screen that view. I think those are solutions that take everyone’s considerations into account. If we think 1,000 feet is too far, I think Judy should suggest what that new footage might be. I think that you make those amendments now and move this forward to the County Board. We shouldn’t unnecessarily burden the petitioner. If they knew what the requirements were, they’ll put it up and water those trees and do what’s needed because they know those are the requirements. I know we talked about it last time, but if we could have some Agenda item that has all of these things that Judy’s been talking about and suggested changes to the Ordinance so we wouldn’t have to keep having this conversation each time. That being said, it is a Special Use Permit so each Case is going to be unique. So, there may not be a one-size fits all. I do think that we move forward and if there are residents within the 1,000 feet that say I want the screening, then I think we should respect that even though it doesn’t always make sense to put a tree in the middle of a farm field. This is a way that we are bettering our climate. We are capturing carbon, allowing drainage, making the residents happy, and we’re moving to renewable energies. So, sometimes we just have to take the compromise as a win. Thanks.
Roll Call Vote was taken to approve the motion to add a condition requiring a field tile specialist mark the tile line prior to installation. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
Judy Ogalla said I’d like to make another amendment to condition #7. I appreciate Staff putting in the conditions that we put in last month for this. For #7, I would like to add the end of May. The end of May is nearly June. When we think of May, there may not be a lot of growth, but the end of May is nearly June. If they start maintaining it at that time, the end of May and first week of June, then possibly we would be able to make this a more neighborhood friendly type of solar farm for the community. Every community has their own unique distinctions about them and we want them to be a friendly neighbor. I know solar companies are going to do all that they can. I know some communities ask them to do a lot more than what we ask them to do. So, I would like to make an amendment to #7 to include the last week of May or the beginning of June in addition to the other ones that are there right now. I’ll make that Motion.
Steve Balich seconded that Motion.
Roll Call Vote was taken to amend condition #7 to add the end of May/beginning of June to the maintenance schedule already proposed. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
Judy Ogalla said I have one more thing if you don’t mind.
Chairman Marcum said go ahead.
Judy Ogalla said we had a member from the public, Mr. Charles Phillips, and he indicated that he built a new home on his property to the east. I’m wondering what the location of that is since we don’t see that on this map. It wasn’t there at the time this picture was taken. Do we know what this is?
Lisa Napoles said because that residence does not show up on our GIS, it was not included in the calculations.
Judy Ogalla said okay, can we go out there and look at that? If we need to make a change, we can do that at the County Board. Can you do that before County Board and let me know?
Chairman Marcum said I’m going to have him email somebody his address, just to make sure. He can give it now if he wants. If he wants to give his address now, Brian can look at it now. Or, if he would prefer to email, we can get an answer later. I’m going to defer to him since it’s his address. He’s unmuted if he wants to speak.
Charles Phillips said the address to the house is 1125 E. Goodenow Road. We had an old farmhouse there before that burned down a couple years ago. Within the last year, we’ve rebuilt it with a brand-new house.
Chairman Marcum said Mr. Radner is looking it up to see if he can get us that answer.
Lisa Napoles said I did look it up on GIS, and that property, 1125 E. Goodenow Road, is over 1,000 feet from the proposed installation.
Chairman Marcum said okay. Does that answer your question Judy? Judy Ogalla said yes it does, thank you.
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion was approved unanimously, 7-0, with the amended conditions.
1. Upon fourteen (14) days of written notice to the owner of record and/or operator at their last known address, Will County Land Use Department and Will County Sheriff's Department employees are hereby granted the right of entry in and upon the premises for the purpose of inspecting the premises and uses thereon for compliance with the terms and conditions of this Special Use Permit.
2. Along the northern boundary of the project site which contains ground mounted equipment, including solar panels, a landscaped area at least ten (10) feet in width with at least one (1) shrub per five (5) linear feet, plus at least on (1) evergreen tree per twenty-five (25) linear feet of perimeter area must e provided. Shrubs must be at least three (3) feet in height at time of planting. Evergreen trees must be at least five (5) feet in height at time of planting. The landscaped area must be located outside of the fenced enclosure. The landscape plan shall include ground cover maintenance details including, but not limited to, seeding mix details, reseeding timeline, and weed management practices. The landscape plan shall be submitted at time of the Site Development and/or Building Permit Application(s) in accordance with Sections 155-9.245 and 155- 12.90 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
3. Along the western boundary of the southernmost row of solar panel arrays (as identified on the Site Plan dated July 3, 2018), a landscaped area at least ten (10) feet in width with at least one (1) shrub per five (5) linear feet, plus at least on (1) evergreen tree per twenty-five (25) linear feet of perimeter area must be provided. The landscape plan shall include ground cover maintenance details including, but not limited to, seeding mix details, reseeding timeline, and weed management practices. The landscape plan shall be submitted at time of the Site Development and/or Building Permit Application(s) in accordance with Sections 155-9.245 and 155-12.90 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
4. Outdoor lighting is prohibited except for that which is required by Code.
5. The owner/operator shall retain an agricultural specialist or agricultural consultant to serve as part of the development and/or construction team. The agricultural special use or agricultural consultant shall be retained prior to submission of the Site Development and/or Building Permit Application.
6. Perennial vegetative ground cover must be maintained or established in all areas containing solar arrays and in required setbacks to prevent erosion and manage run-off in accordance with Sections 155-9.245 and 155-12.90 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
7. Mowing shall occur five (5) times during the growing season each year on the following schedule: last week of May/1st week of June, end of June/start of July, end of July/start of August, end of August/start of September, end of September/start of October.
8. The owner/operator of the solar farm shall maintain the areas located within the lease area, not excluding the areas located outside the fence lines.
9. The owner and/or operator shall execute an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement (AIMA) with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The owner and/or operator shall submit a copy of the signed Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement (AIMA) at the time of Build Permit and/or Site Development Permit Application. Financial assurance shall be provided to the County in accordance with the AIMA.
10. Prior to submission of a Site Development and/or Building Permit Application by the owner/operator, a pre-construction meeting shall be held. The agencies/individuals invited to attend shall include Will County staff, elected officials, Will County Farm Bureau staff, and other interested parties as determined by Land Use staff and/or the owner/operator.
11. On-site power lines and utility connections must be placed underground except where necessary to connect to existing overhead utility lines. The proposed riser pole on the Site Plan, dated June 24, 2021, is permitted.
12. The owner and/or operator shall submit an operation and maintenance plan of the solar farm within six (6) months of construction completion. The plan shall include detailing measures for maintaining safe access to the installation, storm water controls, property maintenance, as well as general procedures for operation and maintenance of the installation.
13. The applicant shall submit an emergency services plan, including but not limited to the project summary, electrical schematic and means of shutting down energy systems throughout the life of the installation, within six (6) months of construction completion.
14. The applicant shall submit the No Flight Hazard Determination obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration at time of Building and/or Site Development Permit application, whichever is first.
15. The applicant shall work with Crete Township and provide a Line of Credit that is agreed upon by all parties (GreenbergFarrow and Borrego Solar Systems, Inc and Crete Township) to cover the maintenance costs within the right-of-way along East Goodenow Road.
16. Approval by the Crete Township Fire Protection District, the Will County Health Department, and the Crete Township Highway Commissioner is required prior to Building/Site Development Permit issuance.
17. The owner/operator shall be required to submit a drain tile map as part of the Building and/or Site Development Permitting process. Any drain tiles existing on site shall be identified and marked on site prior to any construction of the solar farm. The owner/applicant is held to the requirements of Section 1556- 9.245(L)(3) of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
| RESULT: APPROVED AS AMENDED [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Tom Weigel, Member SECONDER: Steve Balich, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Judy Ogalla, Member SECONDER: Steve Balich, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Judy Ogalla, Member SECONDER: Steve Balich, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
(Marguerite Kenny)
Marguerite Kenny presented Zoning Case # ZC-21-038, which takes place in Manhattan Township.
Like past solar farms, this is a repeat request. The past Zoning Case that is now expired was ZC-18-002, which was approved by the Will County Board back on May 17, 2018.
The applicant is requesting the same use.
The owner is Manhattan Farm LLC, where Joyal Akkawi is 100% interest.
The agents are Kerri Williams of Greenberg Farrow and I believe Kip Smith is here representing Borrego Solar System.
The applicant is requesting to construct a 14.87-acre solar farm, approximately 2 megawatts in size.
Within this site, it is located on the eastern side of Gougar. It is surrounded by A-1 properties, but there is an A-2 farmstead directly south of this property.
Within the Site Plan, you will notice that there are 3 delineated farmland wetlands on the property. The solar farm will be located outside of the 75-foot buffer requirement that the County has.
In terms of the lease agreement, this solar farm will have the potential to be operational for 43 years.
It will be secured by a 7 foot fence, but there will be no barbed wire or razor wire on top of that fence.
Like the previous Zoning Case, the solar arrays will mounted on a tracking system so it will follow the sun throughout the day.
The electrical area is actually centrally located within the installation, so it is 460 feet from the nearest property line.
In terms of the residences located within 1,000 feet, only to the south is where there’s a residence within that distance.
Also, per the Zoning Ordinance, screening along the right-of-way, so that is western side of the installation and then that southern line of the installation would be required to be screened per the current Code of the Zoning Ordinance.
This site will be monitored remotely 24 hours/day, but there will be occasional site visits for maintenance of the arrays as well as landscaping requirements.
The Manhattan Township did provide a letter, which is provided to you in your Staff Reports. Some of the conditions pertaining to the Special Use Permit have come from the Township. They wish to have a Line of Credit from the owner/operator to ensure that the right-of-way is maintained, either by the owner/operator or if they need to come out and maintain it, they have the funding available to do so.
Also, that the owner/operator enter into an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Part of that AIMA is basically a Decommissioning Plan. It requires that upon the solar farm no longer being operational that you have 180 days to deconstruct everything that was installed in accordance with that solar farm installation. So, all the grounds, electrical cables, solar panels, landscaping, fencing, and everything that was installed as part of that, has to be removed within 180 days per the Decommissioning Plan. The site also has to be re-instituted as agricultural lands.
A copy of the template for the Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement has been included in your Staff Reports.
With regards to the conditions, some of them have also been included that were brought up at County Board, as we were discussing previously with the last Case.
The owner/operator shall retain an agricultural specialist or agricultural consultant as part of the development and/or construction team.
The perennial vegetative ground cover must be maintained or established in all areas including the setbacks, and underneath the solar panels to prevent erosion and manage storm run-off.
The landscaping shall include ground cover maintenance details, so seeding mix details, planting schedules as some of the ground cover may need to be re-seeded from time to time, weed management practices, and things of that nature.
The mowing shall occur 4 times. So, condition # 5, if you wish to adopt the changes from the previous Zoning Case, would be that the mowing shall occur 5 times during the growing season each year on the following schedule: end of May/start of June, end of June/start of July, end of July/start of August, end of August/start of September, and end of September/start of October. You would need to make a Motion to amend condition #5 to make that change, because now it’s just the 4 times. This is what was adopted from the previous County Board Cases.
The owner/operator shall maintain the areas located within the lease area, not excluding the areas located outside the fence lines. So, the entire lease area needs to be maintained.
#7, that the owner enters into an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement. Part of that will be that financial assurance is given to the County to cover the cost of decommissioning should the owner/operator be unable to decommission when it is not in production anymore.
Condition #8 would be that a Site Development and/or Building Permit Application would be required, but before that a construction meeting needs to be held.
Condition #9 is just allowing that if overhead power lines are required by ComEd that they are allowed to do so.
Condition #10 that the owner/operator shall submit an Operation and Maintenance Plan 6 months after construction to allow for any modifications that were made in the construction of the solar system that they provide an updated O&M Plan to the County.
A similar condition with the Emergency Services Plan to allow for any changes during the construction phase.
Condition #12, the applicant shall submit a No Flight Hazard Determination Report obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration. You actually have received copies of those reports from the FAA, so if you wish to eliminate Condition #12, you may make a Motion to do so.
Condition #13, that the applicant work with Manhattan Township and provide a Line of Credit, which is agreed upon by all parties, to ensure that the right-of-way area is maintained in accordance with Township standards.
Condition #14 would be that the approval from the Manhattan Fire Protection District, the Will County Health Department, and the Manhattan Township Highway Commissioner are required as part of the Building and Site Development Permits.
The last, #15, is the owner/operator is responsible for identifying the location of all subsurface drainage systems and for immediately repairing damage to drain tiles and other drainage systems that result from construction, operation, or maintenance of the solar farm. This is in accordance with the Zoning Ordinance, 155-9.245-L-3. So, that is one of the requirements that a drain tile map be submitted as part of this construction permitting phase. It is to be similar to what has been adopted previously.
If this Commission wants to amend that to reflect the same language as the last Zoning Case at the previous months County Board Meeting, that condition read “the owner/operator shall be required to submit a drain tile map as part of the Building and/or Site Develop Permitting process. Any drain tiles existing on site shall be identified and marked on site prior to any construction of the solar farm. The owner/applicant is held to the requirements of Section 155-9.245(L)(3) of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.”
So, it is a similar language, but if you would prefer the clarity of one condition versus the other, you would have to make a Motion to amend those conditions.
It is Staff’s professional opinion that the operation of this special use will not be detrimental to the public and will not be injurious to the use of neighboring parcels.
I’m happy to answer any further questions.
Chairman Marcum asked, does anybody have any questions?
Judy Ogalla said obviously I want to make the same amendments. Last time I did ask a question, but I was wondering what the installation time is and the days and hours of the installation occurs. I didn’t get that. Borrego didn’t respond and we didn’t ask them. I brought it up and we have talked about so many different things. I’m wondering how long the installation process takes, and I understand weather gets in the way here so I get that. From the beginning to the end, what’s the expected length of time for the solar farm to be completely installed. Then, is this all done during the typical workday and not prior to 8am? What hours of the day are the contractors required to work?
Chairman Marcum said let me see, is the applicant on to answer that question? No response.
Chairman Marcum said if not Judy, then we can ask Staff to reach out and we can get that information before the County Board Meeting.
Judy Ogalla said that’s fine, Tyler. I was just curious so I could tell people about that.
So, I will just go right ahead and make a Motion to amend this solar farms Special Use Permit by amending it to both the 2 conditions that were added to the previous one. The one from last month with the field tile as well as amending to add an additional cutting at the end of May/beginning of June.
Steve Balich seconded the Motion.
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0, approving the amendments as stated.
Chairman Marcum asked, is there anybody from the public wishing to speak on this matter?
No response.
Judy Ogalla said before we go on, she was suggesting that we remove Condition #12 since it doesn’t apply anymore from the FAA. I’ll make the Motion to remove it.
Tom Weigel seconded the Motion.
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0, to remove Condition #12.
Chairman Marcum asked, any last thoughts on this before we take a vote to approve as amended?
No response.
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0, with the proposed amendments.
1. Upon fourteen (14) days of written notice to the owner of record and/or operator at their last known address, Will County Land Use Department and Will County Sheriff’s Department employees are hereby granted the right of entry in and upon the premises for the purpose of inspecting the premises and uses thereon for compliance with the terms and conditions of this special use permit.
2. The owner/operator shall retain an agricultural specialist or agricultural consultant to serve as part of the development and/or construction team. The agricultural specialist or agricultural consultant shall be retained prior to submission of the Site Development and/or Building Permit Application.
3. Perennial vegetative ground cover must be maintained or established in all areas containing solar arrays and in required setbacks to prevent erosion and manage run-off in accordance with Sections 155-9.245 and 155-12.90 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
4. The landscape plan shall include ground cover maintenance details including, but not limited to, seeding mix details, reseeding timeline, and weed management practices. The landscape plan shall be submitted at time of the Site Development and/or Building Permit Application(s) in accordance with sections 155-9.245 and 155-12.90 of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
5. Mowing shall occur five (5) times during the growing season each year on the following schedule: last week of May/1st week of June, end of June/start of July, end of July/start of August, end of August/start of September, end of September/start of October.
6. The owner/operator of the solar farm shall maintain the areas located within the lease area, not excluding the areas located outside the fence lines.
7. The owner and/or operator shall execute an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement (AIMA) with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The owner and/or operator shall submit a copy of the signed Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement (AIMA) at the time of Building Permit and/or Site Development Permit Application. Financial assurance shall be provided to the County in accordance with the AIMA.
8. Prior to submission of a Site Development and/or Building Permit Application by the owner/operator, a pre-construction meeting shall be held. The agencies/individuals invited to attend shall include Will County staff, elected officials, Will County Farm Bureau staff, and other interested parties as determined by Land Use staff and/or the owner/operator.
9. On-site power lines and utility connections must be placed underground except where necessary to connect to existing overhead utility lines.
10. The owner and/or operator shall submit an operation and maintenance plan of the solar farm within six (6) months of construction completion. The plan shall include detailing measures for maintaining safe access to the installation, storm water controls, property maintenance, as well as general procedures for operation and maintenance of the installation. 11. The applicant shall submit an emergency services plan, including but not limited to the project summary, electrical schematic and means of shutting down energy systems throughout the life of the installation, within six (6) months of construction completion.
12. The applicant shall work with the Manhattan Township and provide a line of credit that is agreed upon by all parties (GreenbergFarrow, Borrego Solar Systems, Inc., and Manhattan Township) to cover the maintenance costs within the right-of-way along S. Gougar Rd to Manhattan Township.
13. Approval by the Manhattan Fire Protection District, the Will County Health Department, and the Manhattan Township Highway Commissioner is required prior to building/site development permit issuance.
14. The owner/operator is responsible for identifying the location of all subsurface drainage systems and for immediately repairing damage to drain tiles and other drainage systems that result from construction, operation, or maintenance of the solar farm (155-9.245-L-3).
15. The owner/operator shall be required to submit a drain tile map as part of the Building and /or Site Development Permitting process. Any drain titles existing on site shall be identified and marked on site prior to any construction of the solar farm. The owner/applicant is held to the requirements of Section 155- 9.245(L) (3) of the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Steve Balich, Member SECONDER: Kenneth E. Harris, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Judy Ogalla, Member SECONDER: Steve Balich, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
Roll Call Vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Judy Ogalla, Member SECONDER: Tom Weigel, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
(Marguerite Kenny)
Chairman Marcum said I’ll let Marguerite speak to this, but I believe we had a request to Table this Case.
Marguerite Kenny said for this Zoning Case, the applicant, Michael Borkowski, has requested to Table this until the next Land Use Meeting on December 14th. This would allow the applicant to reach out to the Forest Preserve District since Raccoon Grove is abutting the property directly north to update their review and allow them to submit an updated letter of support. It will also allow the applicant to meet with the surrounding property owners who have spoken out at the Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting this past Tuesday.
If this Committee wishes to Table this, you would need to make a Motion.
Chairman Marcum said I will need a Motion and a second so we can talk about this Case.
Tom Weigel Made a Motion to approve this Zoning Case. Steve Balich seconded the Motion.
Chairman Marcum asked, before we do anything else, does anybody have any thoughts on this?
Judy Ogalla said I don’t really have any comments to say about this right now, but I do know that one of the members from the public that wanted to speak before is there now. It’s that Maria Abney that you were calling. She’s there now, I’m not sure if she wants to make a comment about it or if we would be taking comments right now.
Chairman Marcum said I was going to do Committee Members and then public comment.
Judy Ogalla said okay, wonderful. I don’t have any comments since we’re going to be waiting for them to reach out. I will go ahead and hold my comments until the next time. Thank you.
Steve Balich said I have one more question. Instead of having Judy repeat all of the same things, can we change the Motion to include all of the things that we already included, after the fact? So, all of those Motions that Judy makes should be included on all of the solar farms and we don’t have to go through Judy repeating the same thing over and over again.
Chairman Marcum said if we don’t adhere to the request to Table, we can discuss it at that point.
Steve Balich said I’m just asking, I don’t know the right answers.
Chairman Marcum said technically, if you follow Robert’s Rules, then you have to do them individually.
Matt Guzman from the Will County State’s Attorney’s office said I agree, it should be done individually, only for clarification purposes. If they wanted to be contested later, they know that they voted on each individual change, should we get to that point.
Steve Balich said thank you.
Chairman Marcum said now we will go to members of the public. Maria, you can go ahead and speak now.
Maria Abney said I just have a few points to make. I am optimistic and hopeful that Mr. Borkowski will consult with the Forest Preserve and get some additional direction. I am an adjacent neighbor. I’m located at 27640 South Egyptian Trail Road. I do have a piece of my land that goes out onto Offner. I have attended previous meetings, even going back to 2018 meetings that commenced all of this. Really I just have a couple of points to make and I’ll make it brief. One of my requests or hopes is that you are reviewing all of these solar farms that are coming into Will County, particularly into the rural areas like where we reside. I'm hopeful that the Land Use Committees and decision makers who represent constituents are considering the integrity and value of the farmland that some of these farms are being placed on. I think what we’re seeing with the pandemic that food shortages and supply chain issues just reveal how weak and sensitive the food chain is here in the country. My hope is just that we think about these technologies, that they may be current today and are taking up 30 and 40 acres of land, but what will energy production look like in the future? Here’s a good analogy. If we remember computers in the 70’s and 80’s, they used to be the size of a whole building. Now we have servers that are occupying a far smaller footprint. We even have minicomputers in our hands, right? Those are called cell phones. My point is, let’s just think about this, there’s even advancements in farming, such as vertical farming that doesn’t take up horizontal space, but rather go into the third dimension, vertically. This is so more food production could be gained. The same thing is what I’m asking for here. If this is also viable farmland, what are the long-term effects as far as the ecological footprint, because this is right up against a Forest Preserve? One other last point is along the lines of property values. I think just continue to use these deployments and seeing what the effects to long-term property values will be. Again, I think when we live out in the country folks like us are not expecting to see 7,800 solar panels next door to us. I think that’s very different than living in a subdivision where you have some solar panels on the roof of your home. You’re in a subdivision where you have 100 homes so you’re already in that type of arrangement where you said I’m okay with having a neighbor 25 or 45 feet from me. It’s a very different lifestyle. I understand that solar panels don’t cause smell or are particularly noisy, but they do change the landscape when you’re used to seeing farmland or wooded areas and that’s where you chose to live. My last point that I’ll make is that I think also continuing to understand the impact of what comes off of these installations is important. In particular, my husband has some electrical sensitivities, he has an EMF sensitivity. It is documented in the paperwork that the inverter is expected to cause less than .5 of a reading. But again, we need to continue to monitor that and understand what the long-term effects are. That’s our major concern as we are less than 1,000 feet from this particular installation. That is all I have to say. That’s what I’ve said at other panels. I’ve summed it, but I wanted to make those 4 points today and that’s all I have to say at this time.
Chairman Marcum said thank you very much. Does anyone else from the public wish to speak on this matter? We do have a call-in user, you’ve been unmuted if you wish to speak on this matter.
No response.
Chairman Marcum said we have the Motion to approve. Does anybody wish to make a Motion to Table this?
Tom Weigel made a Motion to Table this Case until the December 14th Land Use Meeting. Judy Ogalla seconded the Motion.
Roll Call Vote was taken to Table this Case. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
| RESULT: TABLED [UNANIMOUS] Next: 12/14/2021 10:30 AM
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Tom Weigel, Member SECONDER: Judy Ogalla, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
Chairman Marcum said there's another thing that we need to discuss, which we’ve discussed quite a bit today. I think Staff has a little bit of direction to what we’re looking at with the Solar Ordinances.
From my understanding, we want to look at the requirements for trees and planting for cornfields and the distance for screening requirements.
Does anybody have something else that you’d really like us to dive deeply into?
Judy Ogalla asked, can we have them look into that EMF sensitivity? I have not really done any investigation into that. Can we please look at that, just to see what that is about?
Chairman Marcum said I think we can look and see if other agencies around the area and the country have that. That’s a unique thing that I don’t think most people would think of, so that’s a good point to look at.
Brian’s typing up a word document here so that we can see everything that we’re going to discuss if you want to add stuff.
Judy Ogalla said we need to add the requirement to the Ordinance that a field tile specialist be hired and the field tile be marked prior to installation.
Chairman Marcum said another thing was the maintenance between the leased area and the remaining property that we’ve been dealing with. Does anybody else have anything that they’d like to have added to the list?
Judy Ogalla said it’s the maintenance timing also. I’d also like us to look into what Manhattan Township had to ensure that they maintain the right-of-way. I’d like to discuss that with them, just to see what their concerns are there. Some of our solar farms are quite a bit away from that right-of-way easement. So, I do want to look into that. I will discuss more things with the Farm Bureau as things come up. I will, and I hope everyone else will, reach out to constituents who live in the areas where these solar farms are. One thing that we need to remember is that we are responsible to the constituents and make the Ordinances for the constituents that live in the unincorporated areas. We do not have any control over what is done in a municipality. If you live in a municipality, then you obviously abide by those rules. Our rules are for the unincorporated area. The people who live in the unincorporated have different expectations than what they would find elsewhere. We have the ability in the unincorporated area to allow the property owners the right to put a solar farm, because the state legislature has chosen to do so and because Will County has chosen to not ban solar farms. Some counties in Illinois did do that, but we did not do that. So, I think that we are doing our due diligence here and I think that everything should be done for the people who have to live next to a solar farm. They’re used to looking at row crop or maybe even having a pig farm next to them. That is something we do and we live with in unincorporated Will County and those of you who live in municipalities don’t and it is a different way of life. I want to make sure we protect our way of life, but also allow the property owner the right to use their property as allowed and one of those uses is solar farms. I want us to have a happy medium here and have our solar farms look like they fit into the rest of the surroundings. That will be my goal for this and I appreciate all of the support that all of you have given me when I’ve made these amendments. I don’t have anything else for the list and I’m sorry I went on and made a comment. Thank you, Tyler.
Chairman Marcum asked, does anybody else have anything?
Brian Radner said I did want to bring up one other thing that we haven’t discussed today, that has to do with stormwater management. Because the panels are currently looked at as impervious area, depending on the size of the project sometimes that triggers stormwater management. That’s basically how we have to look at it under the current Code. There are other locations throughout the United States that are not requiring detention for solar facilities. I can see the logic behind it because they’re looking at the panels that are above ground and water runs off of the panels and then most likely to a planted area so the water is absorbed back into the ground, which is desirable. So, we’re also going to be taking a look at stormwater management requirements for solar facilities and I’m going to add that to the list. I was just wondering if there was any feedback from the Board Members so we can possibly try to target what it is that the Committee would be looking for.
Tom Weigel said I agree with what your comment was. I don’t think you need stormwater management on something that’s going to have some space underneath these panels to absorb the water, unless maybe there’s some large slopes or something like that. You’d have to look at each site to see if that would be a problem, and maybe take that into consideration. Thank you.
Judy Ogalla said Brian, I agree that it be a condition that we should have more and have it added to the Ordinance. We have drainage and there isn’t concrete and asphalt everywhere around most of these, so I don’t know that it really causes a lot. We are making sure that our field tiles are intact so that way our water would be going out through the field tiles. They’re not changing the contour of the land at all when they’re doing this because we’re not requiring berms. So, the flow should go as it does right now, without any trouble. I guess the only thing that we could look at is to ensure that their ingress and egress has a proper culvert under it and maybe we hadn’t really looked at before. I would be interested in looking at information on that and we can all make the decision then. One more thing Brian. I’ve heard rumors that a commercial solar farm is being considered here in Will County. I don’t need that answer today because it will take us too long, but maybe if that is true you could let me know, or let Tyler know and we could all maybe talk about it next month if that is the case. Or, if you think that is something that we should look at in a separate situation and do a completely separate Ordinance for a commercial solar farm. Thank you.
Chairman Marcum said he’ll get back to me so we have all of the pertinent information.
County Board Member Rachel Ventura said I know that our current plantings are native grasses and I think we did work with experts or forest preserve people who gave us recommendations for that. I don’t have a problem with that, but I do think that what Maria mentioned making sure that we have adequate food and stuff is important. One thing we might consider is what farm plants can we have planted under those panels? Some areas do allow for certain plantings that are more shade based like lettuces, spinach, and stuff like that. So, I would be very interested in having that as maybe a preferential planting and work with farmers to rent that land out for both the solar and some type of farm production. Obviously we can’t force people to farm the land, so the secondary suggestion would be some type of native grasses that would allow for the drainage. I have no issue with the field tiles being added as you guys have been doing. I think that drainage is super important especially as other farmland in the area is being built up. That puts pressure on the existing land to then drain that water, which is why native plants are important because they have 3-foot roots as opposed to very short roots. I would just like to keep that in the forefront of everyone’s thinking, but to incorporate some type of farmland that could be used for growing fruits and vegetables that need shade. I think that would be a nice addition to this Ordinance. Thanks.
Chairman Marcum asked, anybody else?
Judy Ogalla said I have one more thing. One of the residents mentioned that the Goodenow Road area seems to have a proliferation of solar farms in that area. At one time we did discuss the fact that we might consider how many solar farms we might allow in an area. So, maybe we should at least have that conversation. A lot of farmland has been left to heirs and a lot of heirs don’t live in the area and they’re absentee landowners. They’re not sitting amongst these solar panels every day and looking at them. So, maybe we should add that. Thank you very much.
Chairman Marcum said I think we have a lot to go off of so we’ll start working on all of that.
1. Housing Text Amendments of Definitions and Uses in Residential Areas within the Will County Zoning Ordinance
(Colin Duesing)
Chairman Marcum said I believe that we had a request to delay this for a month, because it wasn't quite ready. So, we will come back to this in December.
| RESULT: CONTINUED Next: 12/14/2021 10:30 AM
TO: Will County Land Use & Development Committee |
1. Chair, Will County Land Use and Development Committee
Chairman Marcum said I have nothing.
2. Committee Members, Will County Land Use and Development Committee None.
3. Director, Will County Land Use Department
None.
4. Other
None.
5. Public Comment
None.
VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
None.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
1. Motion to Adjourn the Meeting
Tom Weigel made a Motion at 12:12 PM to adjourn the meeting. Kenneth Harris seconded the Motion. Voice vote was taken. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Tom Weigel, Member SECONDER: Kenneth E. Harris, Member AYES: Marcum, Koch, Balich, Harris, Ogalla, Traynere, Weigel |
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