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Zoning committee schedules January hearings, presses developers to notify townships and fire districts for two community solar and battery projects
Summary
Committee members agreed to schedule ZBA hearings in January for Ranger Power and a community-solar applicant while requiring certified notices and township/fire-district contact; Lewis Creek battery-storage was returned to ZPA pending drainage-district access and tile conflicts.
The Iroquois County Zoning Committee moved to set Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing nights in January for multiple large solar projects and asked developers to complete outreach to townships and fire-protection districts before formal hearings.
Unidentified Speaker 4, a consultant who reviewed Ranger Power’s two-road solar application, said the submission was complete and ready for ZBA review; committee members suggested January 6 as a likely hearing night and urged broad attendance. For a separate community-solar application submitted Nov. 14, staff and developers acknowledged missing items and agreed those must be supplied before the matter is formally scheduled.
A developer representative (Unidentified Speaker 6) apologized for gaps in the application owing to staff turnover and maternity leave and said the team had begun contacting fire districts and townships. Staff and consultants recommended sending certified letters with the application package to create a paper trail; Unidentified Speaker 4 said certified mail and an organized phone-log would document compliance with notice requirements. Planning staff agreed to supply township/fire-district contact information and requested copies of outgoing notices.
On Lewis Creek — a battery storage site returned to ZPA by the county board — Unidentified Speaker 4 reported the county’s drainage district identified a major subsurface drain tile that runs under the planned battery area. Consultants said the developer relocated batteries to reduce impacts and that the drainage district is drafting an access and mitigation plan; the committee expects those issues to be resolved before the item returns for a limited rehearing.
Staff noted publication lead times for public notices (paper publishes once weekly) and that formal notices require roughly 22 days; the committee asked staff and applicants to coordinate schedules and follow the county’s notice procedures.
