By Angeles Ponpa
PEKIN, Ill. – (25 News) -Residents of Tazewell County are expected to see possible changes to various zoning regulations regarding renewable energy, and a closer date to a data center ordinance.
The Tazewell County Land Use Committee made four major moves during this week’s meeting. Two energy amendments were recommended for approval, while a solar farm petition in Mackinaw was recommended for denial, and the county board took recommendations from a Logan County zoning official on data center ordinance language.
The two renewable energy proposals are moving to the full Tazewell County Board after receiving approval of recommendation from the county Land Use Committee. The two amendments would overhaul how Tazewell County regulates renewable energy projects.
The first recommended amendment would create a new, comprehensive renewable energy ordinance that combines and replaces language and regulations for commercial wind farms and solar farms while adding county standards for battery energy storage systems.
The other proposed ordinance would expand application requirements for developers, strengthen insurance and financial assurance requirements, and establish more detailed decommissioning and site restoration standards once a project reaches the end of its life.
Russ Crawford, chairman of the Tazewell County Land Use Committee, said one of the most significant changes involves more detailed insurance requirements and financial responsibility for debris cleanup if a renewable energy facility is damaged during severe weather.
“The whole idea is to protect the citizens, your constituents, to protect the neighbors, to protect even if a tornado comes, you have to protect people farther away, cuz that tornado [and] those winds will take that debris over a wide geographic area,” said Crawford.
“That all needs to be considered. What are you going to do if that happens and how is it going to be cleaned up and mitigated?”
A second amendment would make technical changes to the county’s zoning code to reflect the new renewable energy ordinance if it is ultimately approved by the full County Board at the end of the month.
The committee also voted in a 6-2 to recommend denying a proposal for a 5-megawatt commercial solar farm in Mackinaw by Schlappi Solar 1, LLC. The project would be located at the intersection of Lowery Road and Gresham Road, South of Lowery Road and East of Gresham, Mackinaw, IL.
According to Crawford, majority of those in attendance were not opposed to solar, but rather the location of the project, because of its closeness to a residential area and two small businesses.
“There was a lot of feedback about property values. That if [residents from Mackinaw] had to go sell their house and had to be transparent and say [if anything is wrong with the house], they would have to say ‘Yes, there is a large solar farm right there,’” said Crawford.
“And they think that would have one of two effects: they would want to pay less money for the house, or they would not want to buy, and both of those are bad for the person that wants to sell.”
Committee members also heard from Logan County Zoning Officer Allan Green, who discussed the process Logan County followed while developing its data center zoning ordinance, which has still not been approved. Board members were also allowed to ask questions to Green about the ordinance procedure Logan County has had so far.
However, Crawford did not specify which of Logan County’s recommendations they would take or not, just yet.
Tazewell County leaders are working on their own regulations for data centers since earlier this year, but Crawford said more time is needed before a proposal is ready to move forward. Priority is passing their recommendations on renewable energy that were discussed on Tuesday, with the full county board.
“As soon as we get done with this wind, solar and battery, which will be the last Wednesday of July, we’re going to move right in to creating a data center ordinance. And that will be done about August or September,” said Crawford.
Several surrounding communities, including Normal and Bloomington, have adopted temporary moratoriums on new data center proposals while officials develop zoning rules. Crawford said Tazewell County currently has no plans to enact a moratorium.
“If the question is are data centers good or bad, the answer is yes, because they can be good and bad,” said Crawford.
“It depends on how the government creates the ordinance, creates what’s in and what’s out, and the standards. So, if you are careful about the location, and you have mitigation about the water usage and the electrical usage and listen to the community concerns of people in that area and try to work with them and mitigate that, it can be good. But if you don’t do all those things, it can be very bad.”
Comments