Zoning board backs two community wind turbines with conditions, after noise, wildlife and access review

The LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals on Aug. 20 recommended that the County Board approve two special-use permits for single-turbine community wind projects proposed by New Leaf Energy in Fall River Township, forwarding both petitions with conditions.

The projects each propose a 4.8-megawatt turbine sited on agricultural parcels south and north of East Twentieth Road (nearest addresses 2520 and 2580 East Twentieth Road). The petitioner said the turbines are sized to produce roughly 1,500 homes’ worth of electricity per turbine and will interconnect to the Ameren distribution system. Project materials and studies submitted to the county included an IDNR EcoCAT review, US Fish & Wildlife IPaC correspondence, FAA determinations, shadow-flicker and sound modeling, a decommissioning plan tied to AIMA financial-assurance standards, a transportation/haul-route assessment, and an emergency-response plan.

Why it matters: The proposals raise recurring zoning and public-safety questions — sound, shadow flicker, bird and bat impacts, drainage at small stream crossings, and heavy-component haul routes — and the board attached conditions intended to document and manage those risks before or during construction.

Most important facts - New Leaf Energy presented two companion petitions for one 4.8-MW turbine on each of two parcels (about 101 acres for the southern site, about 62 acres for the northern site). The applicant said…