The McHenry County Board has narrowly approved a pair of solar farms after County Board Chair Mike Buehler cast the tie-breaking vote.
Buehler only votes in the case of a tie. But a recent County Board decision was not his first time having to cast the deciding vote on a solar farm when the board was evenly split. He did so for a solar farm near Union when it was up for a vote in August 2025.
One solar farm is off Crystal Lake Road, north of Mason Hill Road near McHenry. The operator is McHenry Solar Farm LLC. The other farm is off Green Road near Harvard and proposed by 3 A Energy LLC.
The farms were set to be voted on as part of a bundle with other zoning items at the county board meeting last week, but board member Mike Shorten pulled them for a separate vote.
Shorten said the county’s 2030 comprehensive plan prioritizes preserving agricultural land and rural character. Converting the farmland to a 30-year industrial use, Shorten said, is “in direct tension” with the planning framework.
But Shorten acknowledged the county is limited under state law in regulating solar farms, and a denial might get overturned under legal review. But the residents in the area deserve representation on local land uses, he said.
Shorten said he would cast a vote on the record, even if “Springfield will not let me cast it effectively.”
He was the only person who spoke about the solar farms ahead of the vote. He also asked for a briefing on the decommissioning process on such projects. He said he was not satisfied the current framework would protect taxpayers when solar facilities reach the end of their use or fail before then.
But at a March board meeting, County Board Vice Chair Joe Gottemoller said the county cannot consider such so-called La Salle factors when it comes to solar and wind projects. Gottemoller said that was the result of an appellate court ruling out of a case in Grundy County and it applies to McHenry County until they are told otherwise.
The limitations in state law have been a source of frustration for the County Board. The board has turned down some solar farms, but several of those companies have filed suit against the county.