Madison County Board Approves Special Use Permit for Commercial Solar Energy Facility Near Granite City
Roxford Solar A LLC will build a commercial solar energy facility in Chouteau Township.
EDWARDSVILLE/CHOUTEAU - During their regular meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, the Madison County Board voted to approve a special use permit for a commercial solar energy facility’s construction in Chouteau Township, about a half-mile north of Granite City.
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Roxford Solar A LLC applied for a special use permit to construct the commercial solar facility in an area zoned “R-3” Single-Family Residential District.
The Madison County Zoning Board of Appeals initially denied this petition, a decision that was upheld by the Madison County Building and Zoning Committee. During the Madison County Board’s meeting on Sept. 17, 2025, the Board voted to send the application back to the Building and Zoning Committee for further review.
On Oct. 15, Madison County Board member and Building and Zoning Committee Chairman Terry Eaker presented the new petition and the Committee’s recommendation to approve the petition with conditions.
Madison County Board Chairman Chris Slusser shared that he collaborated with the State’s Attorney's Office to work with Roxford Solar A LLC’s legal counsel. He said the County and Roxford Solar A LLC “came to several concessions” in their discussions.
The minimum setback requirement, put in place by the state legislature, is 150 feet. Roxford Solar A LLC has increased the setback to 400 feet from the property line of the nearest house as part of these concessions.
“If they meet that requirement, along with a few other things, our discretion has been taken away by the state legislature, whether we like the project or not,” Slusser said.
The company agreed to plant a double row of evergreen trees around the commercial solar energy facility to shield the panels from sight. They also increased their surety bond requirements.
“If the company that they sell to that takes over the solar farm goes belly-up at some point or there’s a failure or they have to remediate, they’ve increased the amount of money to remediate that, above the minimum requirements,” Slusser explained. “There was not really anything else to negotiate.”
Slusser added that the concessions will hopefully avoid “any sort of litigation.”
“If we were to go to litigation, we don’t believe the results would be very favorable for us, not at all, actually,” he said. “And we would be on the hook for legal fees. And then all those concessions that we negotiated would probably go away at that point, which would put this project at a 150-foot setback from the nearest home with no trees and probably an ugly chainlink fence. I think what we were able to do is get the best deal we could get for the residents and constituents there, above and beyond what the state law has done to take away our discretion.”
Ultimately, the Board voted to approve the request for a special use permit.
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