Neighbors hope voluntary annexation to Antioch will provide an ally in solar farm opposition

In a calculated move, neighbors on a quiet lakefront street near Antioch want to voluntarily annex into the village in hopes of gaining an ally in their fight against a proposed solar energy farm on their doorsteps.

Seventeen of 24 property owners on North Grand Avenue bordering Bluff Lake have filed petitions with the village, which has public hearings scheduled July 23 and Aug. 13.

Connection with the village would result in higher taxes but the trade-off potentially thwarting the solar farm proposed across the street would be worth it, said Tom Gibadlo.

“I went through and talked to everyone on the street,” he said. “Antioch has been the only governmental agency willing to help us.”

Officials have made no promises publicly but the neighbors’ hope is that once annexed, the village would be contiguous and forcibly annex the proposed solar site with their opposition theoretically bringing an end to the project.

The village at this point simply will be responding to the annexation requests but there is an atypical element to get there.

The Lake Marie Forest Preserve is between North Grand Avenue and village property and “not easily annexed due to its jurisdictional location,” according to a village report.

Rather than connecting to neighboring incorporated property contiguity will be established through water via Lake Marie and Bluff Lake, which are connected.

“It’s not the normal way that annexations go through but the (state) statute is clear,” the method is allowable, according to Jim Vasselli, village attorney.

By annexing the properties, the village would be improving its connection with the Chain O’ Lakes as part of a long-term goal of creating a connected network of open space around the village, according to the report.

Gibadlo said a state law that took effect in early 2023 to facilitate and expedite permit approval in unincorporated areas dilutes the power of Lake County, which has jurisdiction in unincorporated areas, to regulate solar facilities. That makes the village a preferred option for residents, he said.

Meanwhile, opponents also are readying for a July 31 public hearing of the Lake County Zoning Board of Appeals on a conditional use permit for a commercial solar energy system on a 68-acre farm field south of Beach Grove Road bordering North Grand Avenue on the east.

That plan by Ironwood Renewables LLC, of Lafayette, Louisiana, is for solar facilities on 36 of those acres.

The zoning board hearing is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Antioch Public Library District, 757 N. Main St., Antioch.