An Aurora City Council committee has recommended two ordinances beginning the process of annexing a property in Sugar Grove Township to stop a proposed solar farm.
Aldermen on the Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday passed the ordinances along to Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole to annex the about 40 acres where the Kane County Board has approved a solar farm.
City officials have said the proposal for a solar farm goes against the city’s comprehensive plan that has long held that area to be for estate-type, residential use.
The city already has five such subdivisions west of Orchard Road that fit that category, and this is in line with those, officials have said.
The Kane County Board voted 20-2 last Tuesday to allow a special use on the property for the solar farm. Aurora officials said if the city annexes the property, that special use would be voided.
The property is basically bounded by a Kane County Forest Preserve property to the east, ComEd utility right-of-way to the west, Progressive Baptist Church to the north, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to the south, in Sugar Grove Township.
According to an outside legal consultant, the city can force annex up to 60 acres of property if it surrounds the property. Aurora’s corporate boundaries are next to the property to the east and north. To the west is a forest preserve, which meets the contiguity laws, the consultant said.
On the southern edge of the property are Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks, and the railroad has agreed to annex its easement into the city. That would make the city surround the property in question.
One of the ordinances recommended by the committee was the railroad annexation. The other was for the overall annexation.
City officials are hoping to have the annexation done by July 23.
City officials have said their protest against this site is not a protest of solar energy.
The city is developing a solar farm near the property, at the Aurora Municipal Airport, and is working with its energy consultant, Progressive Energy, to put solar applications on local public buildings and locations throughout the city, officials said.
slord@tribpub.com
