A. The provisions of this Ordinance do not apply to land located within rights-of-way dedicated to the state, county, or township for public road use. The applicable management agency may have regulations that apply to such public rights-of-way.
B. The provisions of this Ordinance do not apply to uses, buildings, or structures, including poles, towers, wires, cables, conduits, vaults, laterals, pipes, mains, hydrants, valves, water supply wells, or any other similar distributing equipment, of a public utility as defined in the Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/), if the public utility is subject to the Messages Tax Act (35 ILCS 610/), the Gas Revenue Tax Act (35 ILCS 615/), or the Public Utilities Revenue Act (35 ILCS 620/), or if such facilities or equipment are located on any rights-of-way and are used for railroad purposes.
1. This exemption does not include: permanent aboveground structures used for distribution to consumers of communications, wireless telecommunications structures; amateur radio towers; solar panels; or, wind turbines. Additionally, the exemption does not extend to entities that do not meet the definition of a public utility in the Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/), including utilities owned and operated by any political subdivision, public institution of higher education, or municipal corporation; private companies for the distribution of water or disposal of sewage; and any qualifying facility as defined in the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA—16 US Code Ch. 46). All such structures must comply with this Ordinance and any other applicable County ordinances.
(Ord. O-201410-10-035, passed 10-14-2014; Ord. O-201601-ZBA-006, passed 1-19-2016; Ord. O-201603-ZBA-010, passed 3-17-2016, § 8.5; Ord. O-201803-ZBA-10-08, passed 3-19-2018; Ord. O-201808-10-033, passed 8-21-2018)