Sterling planning committee recommends city council reject development of new solar farm – Shaw Local

STERLING – Sterling’s Planning Commission is recommending that the City Council deny a proposal for a new solar farm on a 45-acre site at the corner of West Le Fevre Road and McCue Road.

The planning commission based its rejection of the proposal on July 18 on the city’s plans to use the site for future industrial and manufacturing development. City officials said the site is ideal for industrial use because it is near existing industrial land and West Lincoln Highway, which connects to Interstate 88, and is within the Whiteside Carroll Enterprise Zone, which is designed to encourage business growth and job creation in economically disadvantaged areas.

Nexamp, a Chicago-based solar company, wants to develop the site from existing farmland into a 70-acre commercial solar facility. The proposal calls for a 35- to 40-year lease of the property from TN Hermis LLC, which has owned the farmland since 1983.

The property is just outside the city limits of Sterling. In accordance with Whiteside County building and zoning regulations, the proposed property is within 1.5 miles of one of the city limits of the county municipalities, so the developer must obtain permission from that city before the county can approve it.

Jack Curry, business development manager at Nexamp, gave the committee an overview of the project.

If the project is approved, the solar panels would be mounted on racks that rotate to track the sun. At full tilt, the solar panels would be up to 20 feet tall. A perimeter security fence would also be installed along the west side of the site and would be up to 8 feet tall, according to Nexamp’s project story.

A gravel path would be constructed for easy access to the site, and parts of the site disturbed during construction would be revegetated with a pollinator seed mix. The use of gravel and the seed mix are intended to reduce potential runoff from the project, the story said.

Solar farm runoff is rain or meltwater that runs off of solar panels and access roads. Some of the water will soak into the ground, but some will flow downhill from the site. This can cause runoff and soil erosion.

The inverter and transformer, which solar parks use to generate energy for use by households and businesses, would be placed on a concrete equipment platform, the story goes.

Curry said the equipment platform sounds like “the soft hum of an air conditioner” throughout the day and would be placed as far away from nearby residents as possible.

When asked how the project would benefit the city, Curry pointed out that the system will be remotely monitored, so the project will generate little traffic. Construction would begin in the fall of 2025 and create 20 to 30 local jobs, and the location of all proposed structures meets Whiteside County setback requirements. The project would also give residents power and lower their utility bills, while Sterling Public Schools would receive tax breaks.

During the meeting, Curry presented committee members with a letter from the landowner stating that the solar farm was a way to “give the land a break,” the letter said.

According to the letter, the landowner wants to lease the plot and then return it as agricultural land.

Dustin Wolff, Mead & Hunt city planner, provided the committee with a comprehensive overview of the proposed project and its potential impacts on the city of Sterling.

Wolff pointed to the Sterling 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a detailed economic growth plan adopted by the City Council in 2021. It outlines how the city will provide new housing and more jobs.

Wolff pointed out that the project is at odds with those plans.

The site that Nexamp wants to develop is located on a total of 210 hectares of land owned by three owners.

“That’s a huge piece of land with a low number of owners, which would be very attractive to developers,” Wolff said. “We want to preserve that.”

That land is also within the Whiteside Carroll Enterprise Zone, which would be attractive to developers because it offers several tax breaks that save developers money, he said.

According to Wolff, the solar park would only create jobs during the construction period, which is a one-time event of about six months.

“If you look at a map of Sterling, these sunspots are starting to envelop the city,” said commission member Allen Przysucha. “You’re putting Sterling in a stranglehold (for economic growth).”

Before the planning commission met, Nexamp representatives met with Mayor Diana Merdian and City Manager Scott Shumard, asking the company to look at alternative locations for the project, Wolff said.

Merdian was “disappointed” that Nexamp did not consider alternative locations offered by the city, including “the rooftops on the river” and the former Lawrence Brothers Hardware site on First Avenue.

Curry told the committee that Nexamp is “actively seeking a compatible utility structure.”

Installing a solar park requires electrical cables to convert the energy into usable power. Finding a location where these structures are already in place keeps the costs down for developers.

Nexamp submitted a pre-application to ComEd to test the existing power lines to determine if they would be suitable for solar. Based on those tests, the other locations were not suitable, Curry said.

“We don’t want to come across as anti-solar,” Wolff said. “The city will offer locations that meet the long-term plans for the city.”

The recommendation against the proposal now goes to the City Council, which will vote on another recommendation, either for or against the project. That recommendation then goes to the Whiteside County Board for final approval.