TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dustin Anderson, Director of Community Development
SUBJECT:
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Ordinance Approving a Special Exception to Allow a Roof-Mounted Solar Installation, Located at 2114 Oak Leaf Street (ZBA 2025-58)
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BACKGROUND:
The petitioner, Solar Landscape, is requesting a Special Exception to allow a roof-mounted solar installation for community supply on the existing self-storage facility at 2114 Oak Leaf Street. Community solar is generally defined as a solar project where the benefits from an off-site solar array are shared by multiple customers, including individuals, businesses, and other groups. Customers typically receive monetary credits on their electric bill based on their subscription to the project. Because a community solar installation supplies power back to the utility grid and not solely to onsite facilities, it is considered a principal use and not an accessory use. The Zoning Ordinance does not include provisions for solar installations as a principal use. Therefore, this request must be considered as a Special Exception.
Zoning Ordinance Section 47-3.9(BB) states that review of a Special Exception may be applied to a land use that "could not be conveniently allocated to one zone or another or (where) the effects of such uses could not be definitely foreseen as of a given time." Special Exceptions differ from Variations in that they do not require undue hardship to be allowable. The City Council makes the final decision on this Special Exception request.
The petitioner, Solar Landscape, is a national solar developer that develops, installs, and operates commercial and community solar projects, including commercial and industrial rooftop installations. They currently have around 20 solar projects under construction in Illinois. They propose to install a solar array for a community solar project on the rooftops of the fourteen existing self-storage buildings on the subject site. The property, which is owned by CubeSma...
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