The city of Aurora will protest a planned solar farm proposed for an unincorporated pocket near the city’s far West Side.
Aldermen voted 10-1 Tuesday night to protest the proposal along the west side of Barnes Road, north of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks, in Sugar Grove Township.
The proposal, from RPIL Solar 10, LLC, would be for a 4.99 megawatt distributed generation solar facility on about 40 acres in unincorporated Kane County that is nearly surrounded by the Aurora city limits, somewhat near the Aurora Municipal Airport.
City officials have said the land has been on the city’s comprehensive plan since 2002, as part of a sub-plan for the area done by the city with a number of partners for larger lot, estate-type zoned subdivisions.
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.
They have said the solar farm proposal does not fit the city’s plans.
“I support solar farms and clean energy, but this property is not the right location,” said Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward. “We spent a lot of time on this estate zoning designation.”
Because the city limits are within a mile-and-a-half of the proposed solar development, the unincorporated area is within the city’s planning area. That means the city has review rights.
The formal protest would force the Kane County Board to pass the development with a super majority vote.
The lone vote against filing the protest was Ald. John Laesch, at large, who called it “an excellent use of the land.”
He said because there is no specific development plan for the property, or pending annexation, the city should not inhibit solar development.
“We don’t have a plan,” he said. “I don’t think we as a city should take a stand against it.”
But Mayor Richard Irvin said the city does have a plan – its master plan, which shows low-density, estate-style zoning for the property.
Other aldermen said because of that, and because that estate-style housing is on three sides of the property, a solar farm is not the right fit.
“We would like to have solar farms out there, this is just not the appropriate place for it,” said Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward.
Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, pointed out that a city solar farm is planned for land at the Aurora Municipal Airport near this proposal.
“In no way or shape are we against solar farms,” she said.
slord@tribpub.com