Yorkville aldermen decline to act on solar farm plan

YORKVILLE – Plans for a second solar farm development in Yorkville seem to have short-circuited.

Colorado-based Turning Point Energy is seeking to construct the solar farm on two land parcels in the Bristol Ridge area.

One would be on a 54-acre site on the east side of Cannonball Trail and south of Galena Road along the north side of the BNSF Railway, while the other would be on a nearby 42-acre parcel to the north.

However, when the plan came before the Yorkville City Council on July 25 for a series of votes on rezoning, special permits and other measures, aldermen declined to do so.

When Mayor John Purcell asked for a motion from aldermen to begin the approval process, there was silence in the council chambers.

“Anyone?” a clearly surprised Purcell asked again. “Dies for lack of motion.”

After the meeting, aldermen said they oppose the plan primarily because of its proximity to homes in Bristol Ridge, along with concerns about stormwater runoff.

“I’m not a fan of the location,” Alderman Craig Soling said. “It’s too close to residential. It’s not worth it.”

The mayor said he was aware that aldermen might air some concerns about the project, but not that aldermen would refuse to take a vote.

“I’m completely floored by this,” Purcell said. “I would have preferred if they had told me if they had a beef.”

The properties are already annexed into the city with residential designations, Purcell said, adding that construction of new homes there would bring more students and costs to Yorkville School District 115.

The plan had been to rezone the land to an agricultural designation and give Turning Point Energy a special use permit to operate the solar farm.

That was what the council approved on a divided vote earlier this year for an 18.5-acre solar farm on the far northwest side of the city.

Massachusetts-based New Leaf Energy is developing a solar farm on the north side of the BNSF Railway on the east side of Beecher Road for a 5-megawatt, freestanding facility with an array of 9,700 solar panels, producing enough electricity to power 850 homes.

Turning Point Energy’s proposal could be resurrected.

Any alderman could make motion to reconsider, which would then require a vote by the council, City Attorney Kathleen Field Orr said. Another possibility would be for Turning Point to submit a different plan, she said.

Turning Point representatives at the council meeting declined to comment.

Residents had expressed concerns at a meeting of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which approved the project.