Madison County Board Member vents frustrations over solar panel arrays
by Randy Pierce • Members of the Madison County Board have many times over the past couple of years faced the challenge of representing the feelings of their constituents when casting a vote on proposed solar energy developments, including those in and around the Collinsville area or complying with a mandate handed down from Springfield.
This dilemma was addressed by one of those elected officials, Bill Stoutenborough of Alton at the board’s most recent meeting last month after an attorney representing one of the development teams told them of a recent appellate court ruling in favor of such projects moving forward.
Speaking under the public comment segment of the March 18 county board meeting, Sean Pluta, legal counsel for Arena Libra Solar LLC, who has appeared at previous meetings of this body and its committees plus the zoning board of appeals in reference to projects designed to help generate solar energy, was present this time, stumping for approval of a special-use permit concerning a site along Illinois State Route 162 in Nameoki Township near Granite City west of Collinsville.
Pluta pointed out that the Illinois 3rd District Appellate Court, the previous week, handed down a decision whether counties have any discretion to deny such permits.
“The court concluded that counties have a mandatory duty to issue permits when applications satisfy applicable statutory and ordinance-based requirements,” Pluta said, and “specifically rejected arguments that counties can rely on broader policy concerns or traditional special use review which include property value and aesthetics concerns.”
Stoutenborough, when the matter came up for a vote and the permit request subsequently failed before the county board, provided an analytical and somewhat emotional reaction to the situation, “My heart goes out for the people that will be affected.”
Going on concerning how he felt elected members of the legislative branch in Illinois “thought they were making a good law when they drafted what had to be done by the solar companies,” Stoutenborough added those individuals apparently “didn’t consider the ancillary effects” of that decision.
“In essence, right now,” he continued, “there’s a law on the books that says we are to do something and if we don’t do it, we’ll be sued. If we do do it, we’ll be disloyal to our constituents.”
“Why in the hell,” Stoutenborough conjectured, “aren’t we in Springfield with the people that have a fight to fight to change the damn law? We need to get that changed or else we’re going to be sitting here forever fighting whether or not to grant a permit, which was required by law, or not grant it.”
People encouraging the county board members to vote no on the solar projects are, he contended, “asking us to disobey a law,” noting he “hated these things being put on good farmland.”
“Our choices are thin,” according to Stoutenborough, “We disobey the law and reject it or we obey the law and get the ire of our people.”
He further encouraged the citizenry to contact their state legislators, “the people that put the law together,” and get them to change the regulations.