Legislation passes to benefit interstate 39/88 development

DIXON – A bill recently passed will help prevent new renewable energy rules from “uprooting years of planning” for the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone with developments in the Interstate 39 and 88 corridor, state Sen. Win Stoller said.

The Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone is a 2,000-arce designated area along I-39 and I-88 that local, state and federal officials have invested more than $70 million in power, water, sewer, road, rail, fiber and bridge infrastructure over the last 25 years.

“This legislation ensures that local officials no longer have to worry about an outside renewable energy company deciding that they want to come into this enterprise zone and disrupt years of economic development to help attract new businesses and jobs.”

—  State Sen. Win Stoller

It provides tax incentives for developments or expansions that bring new jobs to the area.

“Local leaders and officials have spent years and millions of dollars creating and building an enterprise zone in Lee and Ogle Counties,” Stoller, R-Germantown Hills, said in a news release Wednesday. “All of their years of hard work and investment faced the serious threat of being undone because of new and controversial statewide siting standards for renewable projects that ignored preexisting enterprise zoning.”

During Lame Duck session, House Bill 4412 was passed and signed into law creating a statewide siting standard for renewable projects that overruled local zoning authority and would have potentially threatened long term plans for the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone, Stoller said.

Stoller’s Senate Bill 1127 exempts the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone from the state’s new siting rules, keeping the land within a 4-mile radius of the intersection of Interstates 39 and 88 from being developed into wind or solar energy sites.

“This legislation ensures that local officials no longer have to worry about an outside renewable energy company deciding that they want to come into this enterprise zone and disrupt years of economic development to help attract new businesses and jobs,” he said.

State Rep. Brad Fritts, R-Dixon, was the chief house sponsor for the legislation.

“The state of Illinois and the city of Rochelle have invested millions of dollars of infrastructure into this area to bring new business to the state,” Fritts said. “This bill protects that investment by ensuring that it is exempt from the new wind and solar law passed at the end of the 102nd General Assembly.”

The Dual Rail Megasite in northeast Lee County is a prime spot for industrial development and job creation, said Tom Demmer, a former state representative and the executive director of the Lee County Industrial Development Association.

“This bill helps ensure we can make the most of those infrastructure investments, and attract projects that will add jobs to our local economy,” Demmer said.

Senate Bill 1127 passed both the Senate and the House and will be sent to the governor’s office for final approval.