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The volunteer commission grappled with the decision remaining silent for several minutes before proceeding with the vote
QUINCY–A silence took over the Quincy Plan Commission Tuesday night.
When Chair Julie Brink asked for a motion on a solar farm proposal at 36th and Payson, none of the commissioners said a thing. Nobody raised their hand. The silence continued.
“No guts,” somebody murmured from the audience in the city council chambers.
Just moments earlier, the city’s planning director informed them that new, more restrictive solar zoning rules on the agenda did not apply to the proposal because the application had already been filed.
Talking in the audience grew louder as nobody would make the motion.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s in your hands now,” Brink said. “We need a motion.”
The silence persisted.
Finally, Jason Traeder spoke up.
“I’m still struggling about whether it’s an appropriate use,” Traeder said. “Staff tells us it’s appropriate and I have no reason to think they’re wrong. I’m to determine if this is right or wrong, correct?”
At issue, the proposal met the requirements for a special use permit for planned development. Commissioners would have to provide evidence to refute the city staff’s assessment to vote no.
Once again, they were reminded that the new rules in the next agenda item could not be applied to this project.
“It’s the chicken and the egg. This is what happened prior to that, so I don’t think you can use that as a basis.” Brink said.
Again, a long silence.
“Based on the facts that were presented, all the items have been met, I make a motion to approve,” Traeder said.
After three minutes of waiting for someone to make a motion, when Traeder eventually did, it was quickly seconded and, on a voice vote, received unanimous approval.
Unprecedented review
This was the first time anyone recalls the city council sent an item back to the commission, after the solar project’s attorneys contacted the city’s counsel.
However, the details of those conversations were not provided to commissioners who asked for more information.
Brink instructed them not to factor in the prior 4-3 vote from back in June when the commission recommended the council reject the special permit for planned development.
Tuesday’s hearing was intended to be a fresh start for Payson Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of Nexamp, founded by two military veterans, with dual headquarters in Boston and Chicago.
During their presentation, members of Payson Solar discussed changes in the new proposal, namely that battery storage was removed from the location. That means there would be 3,000 fewer panels for a total of 9,000, and those panels would have a lower profile.
Kyle Dixon, who lives 1,300 feet away and was also deemed an interested party for Tuesday’s hearing, had several questions for the reps, including proof of direct benefit to residents.
The lawyer’s answers: the electrical grid will support everyone universally, even if they don’t choose to subscribe, and tax dollars will go into roads and the school district.
Dixon said he remained opposed to the solar project, and it wasn’t because he was against solar power.
“People purchase their homes in this area because they want to live in an established residential development. A utility-scale solar facility means acres of panels, ongoing industrial activity. Calling it a solar farm does not change the impact of its use.
“This decision is bigger than one parcel. Respect the City of Quincy’s planned development objectives.”
Alderman Glen Ebbing was also among the handful of opponents to speak against the project, presenting the commission with a petition from Ward 5 constituents he said he was obligated to represent.
“The people and residents of Ward 5 do not want anything commercial,” Ebbing said. “This is nothing against solar energy.”
When Seth Uphoff, from Peoria, legal representative for the solar company, pointed out that this was outside of Ward 5, Ebbing seemed to smile in disbelief (it is near his ward), as he leaned over to another audience member who shook their head. The area in question is within the city’s 1.5- mile jurisdictional buffer zone.
Uphoff also showed photos from their Peoria County facility from about 1,000 feet away, close to the same distance as the homeowners near 36th and Payson.
“As you can see, the solar project blends in with the horizon,” Uphoff said. “It’s hard to make out. I understand everyone wants to keep saying this is industrial and utility scale, but it’s not. This is a small community solar project.”
All the more galling to opponents, after the vote to approve the 36th and Payson solar project, the same commissioners voted unanimously to send a new zoning ordinance to the city council that restricts solar projects within a mile of schools or within 1,000 feet of areas with more than 50 homes.
The solar farm proposed near their neighborhood would never meet those requirements.
“It appears to me the city’s finally getting their ducks in a row and setting a standard,” Dixon said.
It’s just too late for him and his neighbors. Because the Payson application was submitted before these changes, the new parameters cannot be applied.
The Payson solar project and the new ordinance are expected to go before the full city council in a couple of weeks.
Aldermen will have to vote to draft an ordinance that will then be subject to three readings before a vote, which probably won’t happen until the end of October.
City hall observers say it’s a long shot that anyone on council will come up with a reason and evidence that the developer has not met the requirement to move forward with the project, with construction planned to start in fall 2027 and last about six months.
Opponents say they’ll be watching and attending council meetings moving forward.
“City council has the final say. We’ll be at every meeting,” opponent Amber Dixon said.
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Sunny. High 88F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
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