Boone County Zoning Board of Appeals recommends solar farm

BELVIDERE, Ill. (WIFR) -- The Boone County Zoning Board of Appeals recommended a 200-acre solar farm Monday night.

Developers Cypress Creek Renewables will have to abide by 42 conditions, according to the board's recommendations on Monday.

People living near the development site discussed concerns tonight about a potential decrease in property values and quality of land.

However, developers say they prioritize maintaining quality of land and property and don't think the solar farm will harm those things.

This could be Boone County's largest solar farm. It would be located at the northeast corner of Reeds Crossing and Genoa Road.

The company will have to abide by strict guidelines laid out by the Zoning Board of Appeals tonight.

"So we've had appraisal firms all over the country weigh in on this, and they have a very methodical way of evaluating the impact of property values that are adjacent to various uses. But especially solar, and what they've found, very consistent with the studies they've done in Illinois and Indiana, is that there is no negative impact," said Cypress Creek Renewables Senior Developer Scott Novack.

One of the proposals Cypress Creek Renewables said they would consider tonight would be covering the difference between any changes in property values.

The Boone County Board will consider this solar farm on October 17th at their full board meeting.

If it's approved, developers say it could take around 22 to 26 weeks to construct and would start in either 2019 or 2020.