(A) (1) A Commercial Solar Energy Facility:
(a) shall constitute a structure that requires a Building Permit,
(b) shall, except as follows, be subject to the provisions of the Zoning District in which it is situated, and
(c) shall comply with all applicable local, state and federal regulatory standards, codes, and laws.
(2) A Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall only be placed within the following Zoning Districts: as a Conditional Use within the AG, General Agriculture District, the I-A, Industrial-Agricultural District, and the IPCA-PUD, Industrial Park Conservation Area District and as a Permitted Use within the 1-1, Light Industrial District, and the 1-2, General Industrial District.
(B) A non-ground installed Commercial Solar Energy shall have no component of a solar panel that has a height of more than 3 feet above the building roof line or other building installation surface when the solar energy facility’s arrays are at full tilt and shall not extend beyond the edge of the roof or surface.
(C) A ground installed Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall meet the following requirements:
(1) (a) A ground installed Commercial Solar Energy Facility have setback distances as hereinafter set forth measured from the nearest edge of any component of the Facility; the setback requirements set forth within this subsection may be subject to Variance upon the written consent of all the owners of each affected nonparticipating property and the written approval (i.e. Order Granting Variance) of the Zoning and Planning Commission. The written consent of all the owners of each affected nonparticipating property must be filed with the Zoning and Plaiming Commission before the Commission may grant an Order Granting Variance. In addition, the Order Granting Variance and each Consent shall be filed with the City Clerk prior to issuance of a Building Permit.
Setback Description | Setback Distance |
Occupied Community Buildings and Residences on Nonparticipating Properties | 150 feet from the nearest point on the outside wall of the structure |
Boundary Lines of Participating Property | None |
Public Road Rights-of-Way | 50 feet from the nearest edge of the ROW |
Boundary Lines of Nonparticipating Property | 50 feet to the nearest point on the property line of the nonparticipating property |
(b) The terms which have been used above and within this Article shall have the following meanings:
FACILITY OWNER.
a. a person with a direct ownership interest a commercial solar energy facility, regardless of whether the person is involved in acquiring the necessary rights, permits, and approvals or otherwise planning for the construction and operation of the facility, and
b. at the time the facility is being developed, a person who is acting as a developer of the facility by acquiring the necessary rights, permits, and approvals or by planning for the construction and operation of the facility, regardless of whether the person will own or operate the facility.
NONPARTICIPATING PROPERTY. Real property that is not a participating property.
NONPARTICIPATING RESIDENCE. A residentially used building that is located on nonparticipating property and that is existing and occupied on the date that an application for a Building Permit or Conditional Use Permit (whichever is earlier) to develop the commercial solar energy facility is filed with the City.
OCCUPIED COMMUNITY BUILDING. Any one or more of the following buildings that is existing and occupied on the date that the for a Building Permit or Conditional Use Permit (whichever is earlier) to develop the commercial solar energy facility is filed with the City: a school, place of worship, day care facility, public library, community center, hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, or similarly used building as determined by the City Council.
PARTICIPATING PROPERTY. Real property that is the subject of a written agreement between a facility owner and the owner of the real property that provides the facility owner an easement, option, lease, or license to use the real property for the purpose of a commercial solar energy facility, or real property that is owned by a facility owner for the purpose of constructing a commercial solar energy facility or supporting facilities.
PARTICIPATING RESIDENCE. A residentially used building that is located on participating property and that is existing and occupied on the date that an application for a Building Permit or Conditional Use Permit (whichever is earlier) to develop the commercial solar energy facility is filed with the City.
SUPPORTING FACILITIES. The transmission lines, substations, access roads, meteorological towers, storage containers, and equipment associated with the generation and storage of electricity by the commercial solar energy facility.
(2) A ground installed Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall have its perimeter enclosed by secure fencing having a height of at least 6 feet and no more than 25 feet.
(3) A ground installed Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall have no component of a solar panel that has a height of more than 20 feet above ground when the solar energy facility’s arrays are at full tilt. The height requirement set forth within this subsection may be subject to Variance upon the written recommendation of the Zoning and Planning Commission, the approval of the City Council, and the written consent of all the owners of each affected nonparticipating property; the Recommendation, Approval, and each Consent shall be filed with the City Clerk prior to issuance of a Building Permit.
(D) All Commercial Solar Energy Facilities shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) A Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall be designed and located so as to prevent glare from any individual arrays/solar panels toward any inhabited building on adjacent properties as well as adjacent street rights-of-way.
(2) A Commercial Solar Energy Facility’s power and communication lines running between banks of solar panels and to electric substations or interconnections with buildings shall be buried underground. Exemptions may be granted by the City Council in specific instances where shallow bedrock, watercourses, other elements of natural landscape, or other conditions not subject to the facility owner’s control interfere with the ability to bury lines.
(3) A Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall have such vegetative screening as reasonably needed to protect and shield adjoining properties and public rights of way. A Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall have such vegetative ground cover as may be needed to reduce stormwater runoff, flooding, and erosion. A Commercial Solar Energy Facility, shah in all events comply with Chapter 53 of the Revised Code of Ordinances of the City relating to Storm Drainage and Sediment Control.
(4) A Commercial Solar Energy Facility permitted by reason of a Conditional Use shall provide to City as part of its request for a Conditional Use any reports, agreements, or recommendations received by the facility owner and/or agents from consultations or submissions to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, or other Illinois or Federal Agency imposing standards or requirements on the Commercial Solar Energy Facility.
(5) (a) The Commercial Solar Energy Facility and the facility owner shall be responsible for:
1. the reasonable cost of improving roads used by the facility owner to construct the Commercial Solar Energy Facility and
2. the reasonable cost of repairing roads used by the Facility owner during construction of the Commercial Solar Energy Facility so that those roads are in a condition that is safe for the driving public after the completion of the Commercial Solar Energy Facility’s construction.
(b) Roadways improved in preparation for and during the construction of the Commercial Solar Energy Facility shall be repaired and restored to the improved condition at the reasonable cost of the developer if the roadways have degraded or were damaged as a result of construction-related activities; However, the Commercial Solar Energy Facility and facility owner shall not be required to pay costs, fees, or charges for road work that is not specifically and uniquely attributable to the construction of the Commercial Solar Energy Facility.
(Ord. 2023-30, passed 8-21-2023)