An almost 2,000-acre solar project in central DeKalb County was given the go-ahead after a split DeKalb County Board vote this week, despite the wishes of some of those who voted for it.

Burr Oak Solar, owned by Texas-based Leeward Renewable Energy, has been given county permission to operate a 300-megawatt solar energy facility on 1,984 acres of land in Pierce, Afton and Squaw Grove townships, according to county documents.

DeKalb County Republican Party Chairman Tim Bagby, who represents District 3 on the board, voted in favor of the solar project even though he said he’d love to vote against it. He said county and state codes restrict what industries and projects the board can prevent from setting up in DeKalb County.

“I can’t vote on the basis the ordinance I wish we had, I have to vote on the basis of the ordinance, the code that we have in front of us,” Bagby said.

Bagby wasn’t the only Republican on the board who expressed frustration that they felt they had to vote to approve the special-use permit request for the Burr Oak Solar project.

Kathy Lampkins, a Republican from District 2, voted in favor of the project, but she also said that it wasn’t what she wanted to do.

“If I was going to vote my heart, I would vote no, as I feel for the nonparticipating landowners near Burr Oaks Solar,” Lampkins said. “However, tonight, as always, I must follow the law and not my heart.”

Burr Oak Solar received a special-use permit for the various properties associated with the solar project in a 15-6-1 vote by the County Board.

Republican County Board members Rebecca Johnson, District 12; Elizabeth Lundeen, District 4; Joseph Marcinkowski, District 11; Laurie Emmer, District 4; Suzanne Fahnestock, District 5; and Benjamin Haier, District 5, voted against the solar project. Rhonda Henke, a Republican from District 1 and the first member asked to vote on the request, abstained.

Multiple people spoke in favor of the solar project at this week’s board meeting.

John Aspinwall of Afton Township was one of them. He asked the board to follow in the footsteps of the DeKalb City Council, which recently rejected a 4-megawatt solar energy system and two 6,000-square-foot data center buildings on about 30 acres at 1199 N. Peace Road.

“Now, as you consider the Burr Oak Solar project, I ask you to show the same bravery and loyalty to your constituents,” Aspinwall said.

Northern Illinois University student Trevor White, from DeKalb Township, said many NIU students want solar energy.

He spoke as a representative of the Justice and Sustainability Association at NIU.

“I encourage you guys to join me in fulfilling and furthering our mission in a healthier environment, and making choices that instill hope in future generations,” White said.

Burr Oak Solar will be developed across 21 separate properties in DeKalb County. But officials noted in county documents that the majority of the properties located in the development area would not be part of the commercial solar energy system.

Bagby said he had hoped that a provision of county code, which seeks to prevent land uses that dominate the neighborhood, could stymie the development. He found, however, that a solar project wouldn’t dominate an area already predominantly zoned for agriculture.

Hamstrung between his convictions and what he’s required to do as a legislator, Bagby said he was worried that the solar energy project could create an unfavorable relationship between DeKalb County and larger population centers in Illinois.

“I understand a lot of this electricity is going to be powering the iPhones and the Teslas and all that stuff in Lake County, and DuPage County and Cook County, and what that does is it leaves us as a means to some other people’s ends,” Bagby said. “That’s a terrible spot to be in – to feel like you’re just there to provide something for somebody else without it impacting yourselves.”