Ogle County Board OKs rezoning 524 acres near Byron nuclear plant

OREGON – Constellation Energy Generation got its wish Tuesday night when the Ogle County Board voted to rezone 524 acres of land around the Byron Generating Station.

County Board members voted 18-4-1 to rezone 10 land parcels in Rockvale and Marion townships from AG-1 Agricultural to I-1 Industrial. Constellation owns the property.

“The Ogle County Board’s decision to approve rezoning some parcels of Constellation property is a win for taxpayers and a positive step for future business development in the county,” Constellation communications manager Paul Dempsey said.

Voting in favor of the petition were County Board Chairman John Finfrock; Vice Chairwoman Patricia Nordman; and board members Zachary Oltmanns, Rick Fritz, Tom Smith, Wayne Reising, Austin Gillis, Joseph Simms, Dave Williams, Skip Kenney, Dan Janes, Don Griffin Jr., Bruce Larson, Jeff Billeter, Steven Huber, Stan Asp, Lyle Hopkins and Susie Cobitt.

Board members Jackie Ramsey, Ryan Reeverts, Dean Fox and Marcia Heuer voted no.

Board member Ben Youman abstained because of a conflict of interest, and member Dan Miller was absent.

“Different businesses do call Constellation – large, small – offering certain things that maybe could go on a parcel of land near the plant,” Dempsey said. “We continue to talk to people, but there’s no customer right now. There’s no deal in the works. But now, rezoning the property makes it more attractive to large companies to bring more jobs and bring more taxpayer money.”

Nine of the land parcels that were rezoned are to the east of the nuclear plant and are contiguous; the final parcel, which is only 1.3 acres in size, is southwest of the plant and surrounded by I-1 Industrial-zoned land.

The Ogle County Regional Planning Commission on June 27 voted 3-2 to recommend that the Ogle County Board deny Constellation’s petition to rezone 596.33 acres.

Seven parcels were removed from the request after the RPC expressed concern about the number of acres being considered for rezoning and, on July 25, Ogle County Zoning Board of Appeals members voted 3-2 to approve Constellation’s revised petition.

Supervisor of Assessments and Planning and Zoning Committee members on Aug. 13 voted 5-1-1 to support Constellation’s petition.

All three bodies’ decisions were sent to the full Ogle County Board for consideration.

The vote was “an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Janes, who chairs the Supervisor of Assessments and Planning and Zoning Committee.

The rezoning is “an important feature we have to keep the longevity of the nuclear plant,” he said.

Neighbors of the Byron Generation Station declined to comment after the meeting.