Effingham County committee advances draft wind and solar ordinance, requests more detail on fees, setbacks and oversight

The Effingham County Legislative Committee on an unspecified date continued work on a draft wind and solar ordinance, reviewing a model used in Coles County and asking staff to return with clarified fee schedules, setback and fencing rules, and a proposal for outside technical reviewers.

Committee members said Coles County’s approach — which uses a hearing officer, outside engineer and outside attorney to review applications — provided a useful template for a county without zoning. “They retain an attorney to be the facilitator at the hearing. They retain an engineer to look over that portion of it,” a committee member reported, summarizing the Coles County practice.

Why it matters: the committee is shaping how large renewable-energy projects would be reviewed and permitted in a county that currently lacks zoning, with implications for property access, local fees and farmland use.

Discussion highlights

- Outside reviewers and a local coordinator: Committee members agreed they should plan to retain outside expertise to run hearings and perform technical reviews. The proposal discussed would name a single county point of contact — described in the…