Lakewood officials are protesting a solar farm proposed near the village in McHenry County, claiming that it will jeopardize future land development.

Skystone Solar, owned by Cultivate Power, is proposing a 26-acre commercial solar energy facility at 11305 Ballard Road. It’s expected to go in front of the McHenry County Zoning Board of Appeals for a vote Wednesday, Sept. 10. But neighboring Lakewood is pushing back, with trustees recently voting to formally oppose the plan.

According to the village’s petition, the proposed solar farm, which is within 1.5 miles of the village of Lakewood boundaries, “will jeopardize future land uses” and “will create an immovable barrier relative to future development.“

According to the petition, the village already has approved land southeast of the farm to be redeveloped into a residential subdivision, with plans to expand water and sewer along Ballard Road. The village also has plans to expand Ballard Road to access Route 47 and potentially bring in commercial development.

Other concerns include the impact on water, wetlands, existing oak trees, stormwater and neighboring property values. Some Lakewood residents echoed the concerns of the village at a recent Village Board meeting.

“The solar facility will have a negative impact on the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the village,” according to the petition.

Cultivate Power development manager Paul Bottum said the facility will comply with the minimum setbacks of 50 feet from lot lines and 150 feet from residential homes, with landscaping buffers to block street views of the panels, which can reach 12 feet high at maximum tilt. The project also won’t rely on the village’s water or sewer, Bottum said.

The village and county also have their hands tied when it comes to an Illinois law that limits local governments’ ability to regulate solar farms. As long as a solar farm proposal follows the county’s planning and zoning requirements, the board cannot object to it because of the state law, local officials have said.

The anticipated power output of the Lakewood-area solar farm is about 5.4 million kilowatt-hours annually, enough to power about 750 single-family homes, according to county documents. The project is expected to cost $5 million, create 20 local jobs during construction and “significantly increase property tax revenue over the lifetime of the project,” Skystone Solar officials said in its application to the county.

A report completed by the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District found that about 43% of the area has “highly erodible soils,” but flooding is not probable in the area. It is unknown if the development would affect the 1.7 acres of wetland.

“The board recommends that areas between panels and within the buffers be planted to a native prairie mix to help increase water infiltration and reduce runoff from the site,” according to the report.

Another report added in the Skystone application found no indication that the solar facility will negatively affect neighboring property values.

Village officials said they received little notice from the county about the proposal.

“I am generally pro-solar, just in general. I am also generally anti-NIMBY – that ‘not in my backyard’ philosophy of the way things are,” Lakewood Trustee Trisha Babischkin said. “However, in this particular case, I have to remind [people] of what my father had always said: Anytime you have to make a rash a decision, the answer always has to be no because it’s never a good decision if it’s rash.”

Ultimately, the final say is up to the McHenry County Board.

“Regardless of what our opinions might be about where the solar farm goes, it’s not something that we have any power over right now,” Lakewood Trustee Liz Delzell said. “We’re not the final authority on this.”

Wednesday’s county zoning board hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. in the county administration building, 667 Ware Road in Woodstock.

Reporter Claire O’Brien contributed.