McLean County Times

City of Pontiac Planning & Zoning Board met Nov. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The City of Pontiac Planning and Zoning Board held a meeting at 4:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers to consider the following:

ESP Solar, LLC, petitioner, requests a Special Use permit be granted for the development and operation of one 5MW solar farm and one 2.49 MW AC Battery Electric Storage System in an A 1 (Agricultural District). Said real estate affected being legally described as follows:

Part of the Southeast Quarter of Section 35 in Township 29 North, Range 5 East of the Third Principal Meridian in Livingston County, Illinois, said part being further described as follows: Beginning at the Southwest corner of the said Southeast Quarter of Section 35; thence North along the West line of the said Southeast Quarter to the Northwest Corner of the South Half of the said Southeast Quarter of Section 35; thence East along the North line of the said South Half to a point on the Northerly Right-of-Way line of F.A.I. 55; thence Southwesterly along the said Northerly Right-of-Way line of F.A.I. 55 to a point on the South line of the Said Southeast Quarter of Section 35; thence West along the said South line to the Point of Beginning, containing 33.4 acres more or less, commonly known as property south of East 2125 North Road and North of I-55, Pontiac, Illinois.

City of Pontiac, amendment to Table 4.04.1 of Section 103.81 of the Pontiac Zoning Ordinance entitled “Table of Permitted and Special Uses” to allow development of Solar Farms as a Special Use in an E-R, Estate Residential District zoning classification. This particular change only applies to real estate owned by the City of Pontiac.

The following members were present: Bill Abraham, Rick Baier, Tim Fogarty, Paul Giordano, and Tim Lewis. Matt Stock and Pat Martin were absent. Also present were David Wilson from the Building and Zoning Office, City Administrator, Jim Woolford, and City Attorney, Alan Schrock. Patrick Burns, Scott Ahn, and Chad Chahbazi, representatives of ESP Solar, LLC attended via video conferencing app, Microsoft Teams.

Rick Baier made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 26, 2022 meeting, and with a second from Bill Abraham and a unanimous yes vote, the minutes were approved. Alan Schrock informed the Board that ESP Solar is requesting a 24-acre solar farm on the City Airport property and that this particular request is similar to a previously approved Ordinance 2018-O 026. The City has granted the developer an option to enter into a lease for the 24 acre site in question. The developer ESP Solar, LLC is requesting that a special use permit shall be granted to allow development, construction, and operation of a 5MW solar farm and one 2.49 MW AC Battery Electric Storage System on the site in question. Representing the Developer, Chad Chahbazi stated that ESP Solar, LLC will be the final owner of the solar farm but might have it owned by a subsidiary LLC. Mr. Chahbazi explained that the airport authorities had already approved this development at the time of developing solar farm 1B which was already constructed on the airport property. Rick Baier made a motion to recommend approval of the special use permit for the proposed solar farm development, and with a second from Tim Lewis and a unanimous yes vote, the motion passed.

The Board then briefly discussed a potential future solar farm project on City property on Pearl St. which is zoned ER, Estate Residential which currently does not allow solar farms as either a permitted or special use. Alan Schrock then stated the Board should consider amending Table

4.04.1 of Section 103.81 of the Pontiac Zoning Ordinance to allow solar farms as a special use in the district as was recently done with respect to cell towers.

Bill Abraham made a motion to recommend approval of the suggested amendment. With a second from Tim Lewis, and a unanimous yes vote, the motion was passed.

With no further discussion, Bill Abraham made a motion to adjourn the meeting and with a second from Tim Lewis and a unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned at 5:03 p.m.

https://www.pontiac.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11142022-932