Mercer County begins rewrite of zoning ordinance, flags wind and solar rules for change

Mercer County commissioners heard a multi-hour presentation and discussion about a planned rewrite of the county zoning ordinance, focusing on energy-related uses, temporary-use permits, and a new building-permit regime. Planning staff said the county wants clearer, more workable rules that let affected landowners and the public provide input while preserving the board’s discretion for conditions and enforcement.

The proposal stems from multiple meetings with the planning and zoning commission, a public town hall and reviews of neighboring counties’ ordinances. Planning staff reported that much of the public interest and written comment they received focused on the county’s rules for wind towers and, to a lesser extent, solar installations. Staff said the existing ordinance does not ban wind energy but contains provisions — notably a 5-year permit renewal term — that effectively prevent wind developers from financing projects, because federal production tax credits rely on a 10-year monetization window.

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said the rewrite would affect how major energy projects, medium-scale industrial uses and long-running temporary uses are permitted and enforced across the county. Changes could alter whether developers can obtain financing for projects and how residents can participate in public hearings.

Planning staff said they had begun drafting revisions and asked the commission for direction on a few key issues, including whether to lengthen the wind-permit renewal term from five years to 10 years so developers can package production tax credits, and whether to adopt exclusion zones similar to McLean County’s ordinance to protect high‑value lakefront properties. Commissioners expressed a range of views but repeatedly said they wanted affected landowners’ views to be central to any decision on allowing or limiting wind installations in the county.

Several other topics were raised as parts of the same rewrite: the county’s land-use map and comprehensive plan (which staff said dates to 1985 and has not been kept current), adding a basic building-permit system with an application checklist, reorganizing mobile home/RV/campground rules so each use is easier to find, and tightening enforcement and review mechanisms so conditions attached to permits are actually checked.

On temporary uses, staff asked whether the county should impose clear time limits instead of the current annual renewal system. Commissioners agreed many long-running “temporary” permits should be converted to conditional use permits and that a review mechanism is needed; staff said they would return with recommended time-limit thresholds and an inventory of existing temporary permits for the board to review.

Staff recommended a “medium-broad” approach to new energy- and industrial-use language: include minimum protections and definitions while keeping conditional-use authority so site-specific conditions can be applied. Commissioners asked staff to incorporate elements from McLean County’s ordinance and to prepare draft language for the board’s review; several commissioners also asked staff to prepare cost estimates for the additional out-of-scope items (comprehensive plan update, mapping/GIS work and expanded ordinance rewrites).

Commission direction and next steps: Commissioners asked staff to (1) draft language changing the wind-permit renewal term (staff suggested 10 years as an option), (2) prepare a recommended approach to exclusion zones and public-notice procedures, (3) add a simple building-permit framework (fees to be developed later), and (4) assemble a list of existing temporary permits for the commission to consider converting to conditional uses or imposing time limits. Staff said they would return with draft ordinance language, examples from McLean County, and preliminary cost estimates for items outside the current scope.

No formal ordinance change was adopted during the meeting; staff will return with draft text and numbers for further action.