P&Z: New Lenox Township Solar Variances Extended to April 2027

Will County Planning and Zoning Commission | October 6, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Board Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, granted a first 180-day extension of two variances tied to a solar project on South Spencer Road in New Lenox Township, pushing their expiration to April 19, 2027, after the developer reported a delay in an Illinois Shines program award that affects project financing and construction.

Spencer Road Solar Extension Key Points:

• Extension request VEXT-26-004 covers variances V-25-117, reducing required mowings from five times to one, and V-25-118, allowing 36-inch ground cover plant height.
• Both variances were originally approved Oct. 21, 2025, and had not been established on site; the associated special use permit has a longer establishment period and was not part of the request.
• Section 155-16.70(L)(2) allows the commission to extend a variance for good cause on up to two occasions, by up to 180 days each.
• The applicant is awaiting an award under the state’s Illinois Shines program.

WILL COUNTY — The Will County Board Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, approved a first extension of two variances for a solar project on vacant land along South Spencer Road in New Lenox Township, giving the developer until April 19, 2027, to put them to use.

Zoning Administrator Marguerite Kenny, AICP, presenting the request, said the owner of record is JETM Properties, LLC–Green Trails Series, with Jack Curry of Nexamp Solar LLC, doing business as Spencer Road Solar East LLC, as agent and Nick Standiford of Schain Banks as attorney. The land is on the east side of Spencer Road, just south of 1100 South Spencer Road, with railroad or former railroad tracks along the northern property line.

Kenny said the commission approved the underlying special use permit for the solar facility and both variances on Oct. 21, 2025 — a variance reducing the number of required mowings from five times to one, and a variance allowing maximum ground cover plant height of 36 inches.

The timing mismatch is what brought the case back. “The special use has another year to legally establish,” Kenny said. “However, the variances need to be established within a year of approval. The applicant has not had a chance to establish them on site yet. So they are coming before asking for more time.”

The reason, Kenny said, is a delay at the state level in awarding the project under the Illinois Shines program, an award that would allow the developer to use native pollinator plantings and build to the program’s requirements. The notice document in the packet states the variances “have not been established, and the application is waiting for the award from the Illinois Shines program which impacts project financing and construction as well as other federal agencies.”

Under Section 155-16.70(L)(2) of the county zoning ordinance, Kenny said, the commission “is authorized to extend the expiration of a variance for a good cause up to two separate occasions up to 180 days each.” Tuesday’s action was the first such extension, moving the expiration date to April 19, 2027.

Kenny recommended the commission vote separately on each variance for clarity, a step she said would keep the record clear, and said a memo circulated to members included the staff report and minutes from the original hearing. She added that the commission “has been pretty favorable to the request for at least the first extension” in the past.

The commission took two motions and two roll calls, extending V-25-117 and V-25-118 in turn. Both were declared passed, with no objectors or concerned citizens appearing and no discussion beyond the presentation.

The extension does not alter the substance of either variance. The underlying conditions of the October 2025 approval remain, and the project still requires permitting through the county. The property is identified in county records as PIN 15-08-26-200-016-0000.

The ground-cover question in the underlying approval is the same one the commission took up earlier in the same meeting for a Manhattan Township solar project, where native pollinator plantings were again the stated reason for seeking more than 13 inches of vegetation height.