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Kane County staff recommend keeping commercial solar projects as special uses while awaiting court guidance
Summary
Staff presented required zoning and fee changes under Public Act 104-0458 and recommended retaining special-use permits for commercial solar and standalone energy storage to preserve local review and neighbor input; the committee signaled agreement pending attorney review and a Sept. 29 compliance deadline.
Natalie Zine, Kane County building and zoning division manager, told the Development Committee on July 21 that the county must revise its zoning code and fee schedules to comply with Public Act 104-0458, which took effect June 1 and gives counties 120 days to adopt conforming rules.
Zine said staff is preparing three sets of changes: updates to building permit fees (including a new line item for standalone battery energy storage systems), revised zoning application fees for commercial solar and storage, and zoning-ordinance text amendments—minimally revised where possible to reflect the state law. She also proposed a separate landscape design technical guidance manual to provide species lists, planting distances and maintenance guidance that staff can update without formal code amendments.
“Keeping these provisions in the zoning ordinance allows a public hearing under state statute if we establish development standards,” Zine said, noting she had consulted the Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District and the Kane County Forest Preserve on recommended planting lists and screening approaches. She said the state law appears to cap mandatory initial planting heights at five feet.
Committee members discussed whether to convert commercial solar from a special-use permit (which triggers a public hearing and allows stipulations) to a permitted use. Several members cautioned that making solar a permitted use would remove the public-hearing step and reduce neighbor leverage over siting and landscaping; others stressed the county must be realistic about the legal landscape after two conflicting appellate decisions and possible Illinois Supreme Court review.
“Keeping them as special uses allows that additional layer of staff review and oversight for these projects,” a committee member said. Another noted the split in appellate rulings and urged waiting for definitive court guidance before discarding the special-use process.
The committee indicated consensus with staff’s recommendation to keep commercial solar and standalone storage as special uses for now, directing staff and the state’s attorney’s office to finalize the conforming text amendments and to return with the draft code and the landscape guidance for committee review. Staff said the ordinance changes required to comply with the public act must be approved by Sept. 29, 2026.
Next steps: county staff will complete draft text amendments, have the state’s attorney review the language for legal conformity, present the proposed changes to the Development Committee and, if appropriate, take the text to the zoning board of appeals for required public hearings before final board action.
