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Justin Cheger of Stone River group
expresses concerns over new solar farm/garden rules for the city of
Lincoln
[April 07, 2025]
Monday evening, during public
participation at the Lincoln City Council meeting, Justin Cheger of
Stone River Group addressed the council regarding the recent changes
to the solar farm ordinances within city limits.
Cheger is working with two Lincoln businesses that are going to be
installing ground mounted solar panels to help offset electric costs
to their buildings. The two businesses are First National Bank of
Tremont in the 700 block of Woodlawn Road and El Mazatlan Restaurant
& Grill on the city’s west end.
Cheger’s primary concern was the 12-foot opaque fence rule that the
city has implemented and the impact it will have on the Tremont Bank
solar garden.
Cheger explained that the current
land allotted to the solar garden would be approximately 30 to 35
feet in depth. With a 12 feet fence height, the off set or distance
between the fence and the first solar panel would need to be 24
feet. This is because of shadows that would be cast by the fencing.
With that much off set, the bank would have to reduce the size of
the solar garden and thus would be unable to compensate for the full
cost of electricity to the building.
Cheger said that the bank had received a USDA grant to install the
solar panels and if it is unable to move forward effectively the
bank will lose the grant.
Cheger also cited Illinois house and senate bills that had limited
the amount of control that cities could have over solar farms.
However, the house and senate bills he named could not be verified
by city attorney John Hoblit. Hoblit said that HB 3563 which Cheger
had named was a bill pertaining to AI (artificial intelligence). He
said that there were some rules that were in the house but nothing
has been approved. Hoblit added that what has been passed are rules
for county governments and it is basically an assurance that a
county does not have the authority to keep solar farms from being
established within its boundaries.
Hoblit asked that Cheger get with him one-on-one to review the house
and senate bills Cheger had referenced.
Cheger said he works in many municipalities, and he has not worked
with even one that has the 12 feet opaque fence requirement.
However, Alderman Kevin Bateman called up Washington Illinois and
said that the city ordinances there are very similar to Lincoln.
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Alderman Steve
Parrott asked if the projects Cheger has worked on include solar
farms that butt up against residential areas. Cheger said yes,
and that in many cases those have been 14-feet solar arrays with
standard security fencing around them. He added that adding a
12-foot fence around the solar panels would be no less unsightly
than the panels themselves.
Mayor Tracy Welch said that he felt that this was worth talking
about for the sake of the bank that is a positive part of the
Lincoln community. He said maybe the city could look at the
8-foot fence instead of 12-foot.
Cheger said that the other option for Tremont Bank would be to
extend the garden beyond the area directly behind the building.
He said currently the plan is to build the entire garden so that
it would be hidden from Woodlawn by the actual bank building. To
get the same energy capacity with the new restrictions, the
garden would have to extend the length of the property owned by
the bank, so it would be visible from the road.
Welch asked if that would create a glare hazard for motorists.
Cheger said no it would not because the panels are going to be
south-facing, and the path of the sun is east to west. He added
that the glare that is produced comes from the bottom portion of
the panels, and that it would be blocked by the fencing.
Welch also noted that El Mazatlan is
not as big of an issue because it is back away from the road and the
location of the solar panels is going to be between other buildings
in that vicinity. Cheger said that was correct. The 12-foot fence is
still going to be a financial burden and will still increase the set
backs. He added that the restaurant is also working with a grant
from the USDA so again, there is federal funding that is in jeopardy
of being lost.
Cheger also noted that for both of these businesses, the grants had
been quite complicated to acquire and there had been work done on
both grants for the past year or more, well before the council came
up with the new rules.
No action was taken on Monday night, but it may be expected that the
topic could come up in future meetings of the Lincoln City Council.
[Nila Smith] |
