Maples Road Solar project heading to Lee County Board for approval

DIXON – The Lee County Board will vote on a 35-acre solar farm proposed east of Dixon following a favorable zoning recommendation.

Maples Road Solar LLC, under parent company New Leaf Energy, is petitioning Lee County for a special-use permit to develop a five-megawatt community solar farm that would be subscription based.

If approved, the project would generate electricity to power more than 800 homes and bring in about $31,000 in property tax revenue for the county in the first year, project developer Tom Ryan said.

The company has a 20-year lease agreement with landowner Mike Pratt, who’s a member of the Zoning Board and recused himself from the proceedings.

The 35 acres is part of an almost 300-acre parcel at Maples and Stony Point roads, east of the Dixon Municipal Airport.

[ Maples Road Solar farm proposed east of Dixon ]

The Zoning Board approved recommending the project after gathering testimony and evidence and compiling a list of around 100 findings across three meetings in the hearing process this month.

The findings include several conditions to be made prior to getting a building permit as the company didn’t meet certain requirements in the county’s solar ordinance.

Those include having certified engineering work for the project that’s also reviewed by an engineer appointed by Lee County, conducting a drain tile survey and agreeing to replace damaged tiles, submitting a landscaping plan with weed and grass control, and following the county’s ordinance on screening.

The county requires visual screenings such as trees or bushes to create a buffer for surrounding landowners. Adjacent landowners not participating in the project would have the option of visual screening or a one-time payment equal to what the landscaping and maintenance would cost.

Ryan had said it didn’t make sense to screen the entire area because most of the project is surrounded by farmland, and they argued that the neighbors were too far from the project area to be “adjacent.”

Neighbors and a nearby subdivision range from 950 to 2,200 feet away.

[ Neighbors speak against Maples Road Solar project ]

The Zoning Board is requiring that all neighbors be given the screening or payment option, and the company must provide the county proof that they did so.

Board members said there was “very little evidence produced showing that the proposed development would have no effect on nearby property values.” However, they also found that the project “would not have any significant effects on the character of the neighborhood and the surrounding properties,” and that the development would be compatible with the Lee County Comprehensive Plan.

It would follow all local, state and federal electricity standards. If approved, construction would start in about a year and take four to six months to complete, and the company plans to sell the solar farm after it is constructed, Ryan said.

It would create 30 to 40 temporary construction jobs and two or three longterm jobs to maintain the site.

The Lee County Board plans to vote on the project Thursday.