Chambana Sun

Champaign County Board Environment and Land Use met Feb. 9

Here are the minutes provided by the board: 

Committee Members 

Present	Absent
Aaron Esry (Vice-Chair)
	Jim Goss
	Kyle Patterson
Emily Rodriguez
Jilmala Rogers
Chris Stohr
	Eric Thorsland (Chair)

County Staff: John Hall (Zoning Administrator), Steve Sommers (County Executive), and Mary Ward (Recording Secretary)

Others Present: None

MINUTES 

I. Call to Order 

Committee Vice-Chair Esry called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m.

II. Roll Call 

Roll call was taken, and a quorum was declared present.

III. Approval of Agenda/Addendum 

MOTION by Ms. Rogers to approve the agenda and addendum with the removal of item VIII. G., seconded by Mr. Stohr. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously to approve the agenda and addendum.

IV. Approval of Minutes A. January 5, 2023 – Regular Meeting

MOTION by Mr. Stohr to approve the minutes of the January 5, 2023 regular meeting, seconded by Ms. Rogers. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously to approve the minutes.

V. Public Participation 

Tony Grilo with Donato Solar spoke briefly and was here to answer any questions regarding zoning cases 067-AM-22 and 070-S-22.

VI. Communications 

There were no communications for the committee.

VII. New Business: Items for Information Only 

A. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Notice of Application for Renewal of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit IL 0072052 for the Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. Terminal located at 500 West Anthony Drive, Urbana, IL

This item was presented for information only and no action is required. Mr. Stohr questioned why Representative Ammons was not on the distribution list. This is property is not in her district.

VIII. New Business: Items to be Recommended to the County Board  

A. Zoning Case 067-AM-22. A request by Anthony Donato, d.b.a. Donato Solar – Urbana LLC, to amend the Zoning Map to change the zoning district designation from the CR Conservation Recreation Zoning District to the AG-2 Agriculture Zoning District in order to allow a data center as a Special Use in related Zoning Case 068-S-22 and a PV solar array as a second principal use as a proposed County Board Special Use Permit in related Case 070-S-22, on a 13.62-acre tract in the Southwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of Section 32, Township 20 North, Range 9 East of the Third Principal Meridian in Somer Township, commonly known as the farmland located on the northwest corner of the intersection of West Oaks Road and Squire Farm Rd, Urbana.

MOTION by Ms. Rodriguez and seconded by Ms. Rogers to approve Zoning Case 067-AM-22. Discussion followed. Mr. Hall stated that this is recommended unanimously by ZBA. There were lots of comments at the public hearing including decommissioning concerns and rezoning. The rezoning and requirements we have for a solar array should probably benefit the environment. The City of Urbana will not be considering the rezoning.

Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

B. Zoning Case 070-S-22. A request by Anthony Donato, d.b.a. Donato Solar – Urbana LLC, subject to the rezoning in related Case 067-AM-22 and in addition to the Special Use Permit requested in related Case 068-S-22, to authorize a Special Use Permit for a photovoltaic solar array with a total nameplate capacity of 4 megawatts (MW), including access roads and wiring, as a County Board Special Use Permit and as a second principal use, on a 13.62-acre tract in the Southwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of Section 32, Township 20 North, Range 9 East of the Third Principal Meridian in Somer Township, commonly known as the farmland located on the northwest corner of the intersection of West Oaks Road and Squire Farm Rd, Urbana, and including the following waivers of standard conditions:

Part A: A waiver for not providing a Decommissioning and Site Reclamation Plan that includes cost estimates prepared by an Illinois Licensed Professional Engineer prior to consideration of the Special Use Permit by the Zoning Board of Appeals, per Section 6.1.1 A.3.

Part B: A waiver for locating the PV Solar Array less than one-half mile from an incorporated municipality and within the contiguous urban growth area of a municipality per Section 6.1.5 B.(2)a.

Part C: A waiver for a separation distance of 97 feet between the solar inverters and the perimeter fence in lieu of the minimum required 275 feet, per Section 6.1.5 D.(6).

MOTION by Ms. Rogers to approve Zoning Case 070-S-22, seconded by Ms. Rodriguez.

Mr. Hall said that on the North edge of this solar array is the Beaver Lake Drainage ditch. The developer has met with 2 of the 3 Drainage District commissioners and they have mapped out easements for the drainage district. The ZBA recommended this unanimously.

Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

C. Decommissioning and Site Reclamation Plan for Zoning Case 070-S-22. A request by Anthony Donato, via IAG Investments LLC, d.b.a. Donato Solar- Urbana LLC, to approve the Decommissioning and Site Reclamation Plan for the PV SOLAR ARRAY in Zoning Case 070V-22 with a total nameplate capacity of 4 megawatts (MW), including access roads and wiring, subject to the rezoning in Case 067-AM-22, on a 13.62-acre tract in the Southwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of Section 32, Township 20 North, Range 9 East of the Third Principal Meridian in Somer Township, commonly known as the farmland located on the northwest corner of the intersection of West Oaks Road and Squire Farm Rd, Urbana.

MOTION to approve the Decommissioning and Site Reclamation Plan for Zoning Case 070-S-22 was made by Mr. Stohr and seconded by Ms. Rogers.

This uses the same numbers as the Rantoul plan that was approved in November. This also spells out in the text all the ways the county can use the financial assurance, if necessary.

Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

D. Adjustment of Financial Assurance for the California Ridge Wind Farm (Champaign County Special Use Permit 696-S-11)

This is third updated on the California Ridge Wind Farm financial assurance. The have used the same engineer for each estimate, so it’s easy to track the changes. All the numbers are good. Jeff Blue looked at the road information and thought that was also a good estimate. At this time, we actually have more financial assurance than what we need as they opted to leave the letter of credit at a larger amount. In May there will be about $1million put into the escrow account.

MOTION by Ms. Rodriguez to approve as presented and seconded by Ms. Rogers. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

E. Resolution Authorizing Agreement to Use State Farm Center Parking Lot for IEPA One-Day Household Hazardous Waste Collection on April 15, 2023

This will be the second year to use this parking lot for the Household Hazardous Waste Collection. This may change before this goes to the County Board and if so, will report the change to the County Board.

MOTION by Mr. Stohr to approve the agreement, seconded by Ms. Rogers. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

F. Zoning Case 058-AT-22. An Omnibus Text Amendment to Amend the Champaign County Zoning Ordinance to Update Material Management/Solid Waste-Related Uses as described generally in the legal advertisement.

MOTION by Mr. Stohr to approve Zoning Case 058-AT-22, seconded by Ms. Rogers.

City of Urbana voted no protest on this. Mr. Stohr also wanted to thank Susan Monte for all her work on this.

Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

IX. Other Business 

A. Monthly Reports

1. November 2022

2. December 2022

Mr. Hall said that we ended 2022 with 43 zoning cases filed, that’s the most in more than a decade, and ended the year with 12 cases pending. Susan Burgstrom has done a fantastic job keeping up with the zoning cases this year. The November and December 2022 monthly reports were received and placed on file. Mr. Hall also mentioned that the backlog of enforcement cases came down a lot this year. Is really pleased with the way Zoning Officer, Charlie Campo, has been handling these.

X. Chair’s Report 

There was no Chair’s Report

XI. Designation of Items to be Placed on the Consent Agenda 

Items to be placed on the Consent Agenda include: VIII. A., B., C., D., E., and F.

XII. Adjournment 

Mr. Esry adjourned the meeting at 7:03 p.m.

https://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyBoard/ELUC/2023/230209/230209_Minutes.pdf