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Resident Becky Heller urges village to enforce setbacks, limit combined solar–wind project
Summary
Becky Heller, representing a group of local residents, urged the village to honor a "mile and 0.5" setback and to limit combined wind-and-solar developments, citing scale, groundwater and property-value concerns. She asked the board to consider zoning changes and stricter special-use conditions.
Becky Heller, who introduced herself as representing a larger group of residents, told the village board she and neighbors oppose a proposed combined wind-and-solar project on the scale described to the county. She said some applications now cover hundreds to thousands of acres and urged the board to protect village buffers and nearby schools.
"If both villages would honor that mile and 0.5 and keep them out of here," Heller said, identifying the setback she and others expect the village to uphold. She cited concerns about groundwater, wildlife and local schools, and said residents fear significant property‑value impacts from large-scale siting near homes.
Heller described prior county action splitting combined projects into separate filings, noted an ongoing court case related to a local project and said the scale matters: she contrasted potential 10–30 acre filings with proposals exceeding 1,000 acres. She also raised transparency concerns and said residents want clearer notice when developers engage local officials before formal filings.
The board discussed legal limits on local regulation and whether a moratorium, an updated zoning map, or a special‑use permit with tight conditions would be appropriate. Chair (speaker 2) and other members said the village attorney and outside counsel would be consulted before any binding action; staff noted that certain state-level public acts limit how far local rules can go, but that the village can regulate siting and special-use conditions within its authority.
Next steps: the board signaled it will investigate zoning and special-use permit options and said it would request legal guidance before drafting regulations intended to affect large energy projects in the village's extraterritorial area.
