After hearing from representatives of solar developers Ranger Power and Desri, as well as members of the public, the Warren County Planning & Zoning Commission voted Thursday, Aug. 20, to postpone a decision on approving a new solar overlay district until next month.
The request for the new overlay district relates to plans for the Blue Bird Solar 2 project. The first Warren County solar project from the same developers, Blue Bird Solar 1, is already operational, generating 139 megawatts of power, while the new project is planned as a 200-megawatt solar farm.
The new proposed solar overlay district would encompass 1,963 acres. The area of the district is irregularly shaped, largely located between Highway W to the west and South Prairie View Road to the east, with a few parcels extending beyond, and extending from parcels south of Powerline Road that are part of the project north to the Lincoln County line.
“It’s effectively between the first phase to the east and then the Split Rail project owned by Ameren to the west,” said Oliver Chag, development manager with Ranger Power. “So it’s right sandwiched in the middle.”
There are 11 Warren County landowners leasing their property for the new project, several of whom were also involved in the first phase, according to Ranger Power. The second phase involves 21 additional parcels.
The new Warren County Master Plan, currently under development, sets guidelines for promoting business activity “that will enhance and create opportunities within Warren County, so long as the business does not become injurious to the use and enjoyment of the property in the immediate vicinity,” Planning & Zoning Administrator Bill Roemer noted.
At the start of the meeting, in introducing Chag and Desri representative Jordan Andrepont, Roemer said it was the opinion of the Planning & Zoning Department that Blue Bird Solar 2 “meets the objective of the master plan of allowing property owners to use their property as they might desire without unduly burdening the right of the adjoining property owners.”
Following Chag and Andrepont’s presentation, questions from commissioners, and comments from the public, however, the commission voted unanimously to table approval of the new overlay district until their Sept. 17 meeting, with several commissioners saying they wanted to conduct a site visit at the future solar farm location first.
Blue Bird Solar 2 is a joint venture between Ranger Power and Desri, with Ranger Power handling the initial phase of acquiring lands rights and going through the permitting process, while Desri will own
