May 15, 2024
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McHenry County could walk back solar farm rules

Vote comes amid lawsuits, potential changes to Illinois law officials say requires them to approve solar projects

By Claire O'Brien
The solar farm at Huntley High School on Friday, June 30, 2023. Multiple solar farms across McHenry County are being presented to the McHenry County Board creating concerns of watershed, farmland and pollinator issues.

The solar farm at Huntley High School on Friday, June 30, 2023. The McHenry County Board is voting on whether to repeal conditions placed on solar farms at their Tuesday night meeting. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver Shaw Media )

Conditions the McHenry County Board placed on a dozen solar farms it approved this past summer could be going away.

The board also could repeal a 10-year time limit condition on another solar farm near Crystal Lake that narrowly received county approval in July.

Solar farms have been a contentious issue on the County Board and among the public, and several residents objected to the operations during an August meeting – the comments coming immediately after the board signed off on several farms.

The county is facing a lawsuit from a solar farm developer over the conditions, which include a 10- to 20-year time limit on solar farm permits, and officials said earlier this week that the proposed repeal was the result of lawsuits.

IL Solar 9000 LLC, which had the conditions placed on solar farms it’s aiming to open, sued the county and the McHenry County Board in August. The lawsuit asserts that the restrictions the county placed on the operations are stricter than state law and seeks to undo them.

County Board members have said they feel as though they must vote to approve solar farms because of an Illinois law that took effect in 2023 that restricts the county’s ability to add stipulations to solar farms.

McHenry County is looking to try to get back some say in the farms, as officials said in a strategic plan update Thursday that a goal of theirs is to “explore opportunities to exercise local control of solar and wind farms.”

A chance to do so could be on the horizon, as officials mentioned a bill filed in the Illinois House this week that could potentially return some authority to the counties. However, the bill has a long way to go and would need to pass both chambers of the General Assembly and be signed by the governor before taking effect.

House Bill 4422 was filed by Rep. Jason Bunting, R-Emington, on Wednesday, proposing the return of zoning provisions regarding solar and wind facilities to what they were before the new law took effect.

“If that bill goes forward, it may restore some of your zoning authority,” deputy county administrator Scott Hartman said of the bill.

For now, the county could opt to repeal restrictions at its meeting Tuesday night.