McHenry County Zoning Board re Azurite Solar

July’s McHenry County board meeting was a nail-biter, with the zoning permit for the Surya solar installation approved 9 to 7.  Praise be.  And this shows the insanity of the seven Republican board members who voted against it.  In the summer of 2023, the hottest in recorded history, the hottest human beings may have ever experienced, with fires, droughts and floods everywhere, we need solar.  The faster we can build solar the better.  Not to mention that we’re talking jobs, good jobs, and tax revenues.  McHenry County needs to be a leader in solar and renewable energy – not a resister.

There are zero environmental issues with solar farms – large arrays of photovoltaic panels on racks sitting there generating electricity whenever the sun shines.  No noise, no pollution of any kind.  Native plants thriving in the areas between and underneath the panels.  Habitat for wildlife.  Rain that hits the panels falls to the ground and runs off exactly as before.  There couldn’t be a better neighbor.  

And we’ve got another solar farm coming up for a vote before the zoning board at Wednesday August 9th at 1:30pm.  This time it’s Azurite Solar, an Illinois company, ready to move forward with a solar farm covering 18 acres of a 20 acre parcel south of Harvard, on the east side of Route 23 just south of Bunker Hill Road – an extremely rural part of our county.  

Reading the application, they’ve got all their ducks in a row, there can’t possibly be any reason to oppose, but nevertheless, if you can spare the time and have inclination, it would not be amiss to sit in on the zoning board on Wednesday August 9th at 1:30pm, the “committee of the whole” at 9:00am on Thursday August 10th, and/or the full meeting of the board on Tuesday August 15th at the usual 7:00pm.  All at the usual location, the county building at 667 Ware Road in Woodstock.

Find all of these meetings at the McHenry County Meeting Portal, and review the full Azurite Solar application here.  The map is on page 21.