No warm reception for proposed solar farm in Huntley

While a new state energy law aims to make it easier to expand renewable options, Huntley officials have given a lukewarm response to a potential solar farm in town.

The Huntley Village Board recently reviewed, but did not vote on, plans for a proposed solar farm near Charles H. Sass Parkway and Route 47.

The property is across the street from the Regency Square development, which was approved in 2024. Board members indicated they did not like the proposed solar farm for reasons including aesthetics and the prospect of having to make amendments to the newly adopted comprehensive plan.

Trustee Vito Benigno said he supports “solar parks” but felt the proposed spot couldn’t be a less desirable location.

Among other concerns, Benigno stated that the solar farm would negatively affect existing and new residential property and overall tax revenue. He said it would “have minimal job creation” versus commercial and retail development.

In response to Benigno’s comments, Forrest Howk, a project development director for OneEnergy Development, the company behind the proposed farm, asked for suggestions on locations that would work.

The property being eyed for the new solar farm proposal is just over 27 acres, but the farm itself would take up about 11 acres, Huntley Director of Development Charlie Nordman said.

The solar farm would produce enough electricity to power up to 500 average Illinois residences and has an estimated lifespan of 30 years, Nordman said.

Vegetation would be planted to screen the solar farm on the west, south and east sides, with the exception of a 16-foot-wide access road, Nordman said.

The plan includes what Nordman described as a “wildlife-style” fence, with wooden or metal posts and galvanized mesh.

But Trustee Don Walz said the fence “looks trashy” to him. Walz also said he didn’t like the location. He asked why the company chose it.

Howk said the company looks for a landowner willing to sell or lease the property for the project. The company reaches out to landowners with property adjacent to ComEd infrastructure that can accept the electricity, and the company usually has to ask for a rezone or zoning text amendment, so the Huntley property makes sense.

Trustee JR Westberg said he wasn’t against solar, but doesn’t want the project there. He added that Huntley has made concessions over the years and that the village should stop doing so because it needs to follow the comprehensive plan.

Huntley recently adopted a new comprehensive plan, and officials have generally been against requests that don’t fit into the plan.

Trustee Marilynn Berendt said she opposes the solar farm because it would require updating the newly passed plan. She said if a project is not aligned with the plan, she would need a very good reason to support it.

The solar plans would require officials to sign off on changes to the comprehensive plan and rezoning the property.

Howk said solar farms typically take six to nine months to be constructed. If the company moves ahead, he said, it hopes to start construction by the end of 2026.

Local officials may be limited in how they can regulate things like solar farms because of a new state law energy bill.

However, Village Attorney Betsy Gates-Alford told the village board it has the authority to regulate the solar development.

The new law, which goes into effect June 1, says municipalities can’t prohibit solar energy systems and can’t make regulations that “effectively prohibit the development” of such uses.

But the law has “no meaningful effect” on Huntley’s zoning authority over the development, and it doesn’t override home rule, Gates-Alford said. Huntley can regulate solar facilities through zoning and other powers, Gates-Alford said.