Boone County committee splits on solar farm near Beloit Road; motion fails 6-6-2

Boone County — The Committee of the Whole on Oct. 2 deadlocked on a request for a special-use permit to build a 4.99-megawatt, ground-mounted solar facility on a roughly 36-acre portion of a 39-acre property on Beloit Road in Belvidere Township. After more than two hours of presentation and public comment, the motion to approve the special-use permit failed on a 6–6 vote with two abstentions.

The proposal, filed by Adda Solar LLC and presented by land-use attorney Nick Standiford and developer Ryan Anderson of Cypress Creek Renewables, would install single-axis trackers across the site and, according to the application, could produce about 8,000,000 kilowatt-hours annually — the applicant said that is roughly equivalent to powering 800 single-family homes.

Planning staff summarized the Zoning Board of Appeals record at the committee meeting, noting the ZBA found the request satisfied the zoning-code factors and recommended approval with 20 conditions after a September 23 public hearing. Staff said the…