CROWN POINT — A zoning change needed for construction of a proposed 200-megawatt solar farm on 1,400 acres east of Interstate 65 and north of Ind. 2 will be considered under the usual procedures of the Lake County Plan Commission.
The Lake County Council agreed 6-0 Tuesday to rescind its April 14 resolution explicitly directing the plan commission to determine how the county's zoning ordinance should be revised to permit large solar installations in Lake County, instead of only the small residential or agricultural solar power uses currently authorized.
Such direction from the county council to the plan commission is permitted under Indiana law. However, it's far more common for the plan commission to propose zoning ordinance changes that subsequently are ratified by the county council.
Councilman Christian Jorgensen, R-St. John, said he recently was reminded by Lake County Commissioner Jerry Tippy, R-Schererville, that the county has hired a consultant to update its entire zoning code on behalf of the plan commission, including the solar power section.
As a result, it's not imperative the plan commission consider the council's proposed solar farm language, since the commission simply can early adopt that portion of the revised zoning code — ahead of the full rewrite being completed in spring 2021 — and move forward under standard procedures, explained Ray Szarmach, the council's attorney.
"The guts of our amendment and what's going to be adopted by the planning commission are basically the same," Szarmach said.
The plan commission is scheduled to consider and approve the solar farm language during its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
If adopted, the change still requires a public hearing be held within 30 days, along with final approval by the county council.
Invenergy, a Chicago-based international energy producer, in April announced its interest in developing what it calls the on agricultural land in unincorporated south Lake County.
The solar farm would use crystalline silicon panels on trackers that follow the sun over the course of the day to generate solar power Invenergy then would sell to utility companies to power an estimated 40,000 homes.
According to planning documents, the anti-reflective panels would sit 20 feet apart and rise to a maximum tilt height of 15 feet, though the panels' tilt usually only would be about 7 feet off the ground. Prairie grasses would be planted between the panels and cover about 30% of the entire site.
While only four permanent workers would be needed to maintain the solar farm after operations start in 2024, Invenergy estimates that building the $200 million solar farm will require an average of 350 construction workers for two years when work begins in 2022.
Invenergy currently is not seeking any subsidies for the solar farm. The company plans to lease the needed land from Lake County property owners over a 35-year period, and property taxes would continue to be paid on the land and its improvements.
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