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Kane County committee approves three commercial solar projects and advances revised $5/kW permit fee structure
Summary
The development committee approved three commercial solar facility petitions (varying 1.5–5 MW sizes) with habitat, archaeological and screening stipulations and advanced an amended fee schedule that sets $5 per kilowatt with a $100 minimum (equivalent to $5,000 per megawatt), while asking staff and the State's Attorney to refine language on battery/storage measurement.
The Kane County Development Committee approved three separate special‑use petitions for commercial solar facilities and moved a revised permit‑fee ordinance forward after lengthy discussion about measurements for battery energy storage.
Staff summarized each petition: Illinois Solar 07 LLC (petition 4679) for about 15 acres with a battery system and a phase‑one archaeological survey requirement; Illinois Solar 08 LLC (4680) for roughly 30 acres with enhanced vegetative screening and IDNR mitigation recommendations for at‑risk species; and USS Web LLC/US Solar (4681) for a smaller ~1.25 MW site with neighbor concerns focused on visual screening. Zoning staff and the Zoning Board of Appeals recommended approval for each petition; the development committee voted to adopt the recommendations after adding or clarifying standard site stipulations.
Tyler Morris, a senior developer representing one petitioner, told the committee he expected to hire local labor and asked for flexibility in landscape prescriptions. "There are particularities about this site ... our vendor recommended a mix of bushes, tall grasses that are hardier, better suited for that soil condition," Morris said when requesting removal of a strict evergreen requirement. Staff supported the narrower change so the committee amended the vegetative screening stipulation accordingly.
Several environmental and site controls will be required across the projects: water‑resources and transportation stipulations, the usual fencing and decompaction/best‑practice recommendations from the county ecological reviewer, and compliance with IDNR recommendations for species protection. The smaller project also must secure a US Army Corps of Engineers letter of no objection because of nearby mapped floodplain/wetland areas.
On fees, staff presented a simplified approach consistent with state law: $5 per kilowatt with a $100 minimum to cover administrative costs (equivalent to $5,000 per megawatt). "The state statute indicates a county may charge a maximum fee of $5,000 per megawatt ... that translates to $5 per kilowatt," staff said. Committee members raised technical questions about how to measure fees for battery energy storage (kilowatt versus kilowatt‑hours and the phrase "installed" versus "name plate capacity"). After discussion the committee amended Exhibit A to use the statute’s term "name plate capacity" for both generation and storage and requested a final legal and technical review by the State's Attorney’s Office before the amendment reaches the executive committee.
The committee also asked staff to hold a workshop on proposed ordinance changes (to consider making solar a permitted use and other coding changes) and to bring additional technical materials (including nameplate examples) for follow‑up. The vote on petitions and the amended fee language moved the county closer to processing a larger volume of commercial solar applications under a clearer, legally aligned fee structure.
What’s next: Each approved petition will proceed through building/permitting with the listed stipulations; the fee amendment will be refined with State's Attorney review and may be further adjusted at the executive level prior to final adoption.
The article below contains the petitions approved, core conditions and the committee’s direction for additional legal/technical review.
