Laserfiche WebLink
Decatur Northwest 2, LLC <br /> Decatur Northwest 2 Commercial Solar Energy Facility, Decatur, IL <br /> A driveway(with an aggregate base) will be constructed to allow for access to and maintenance of the <br /> Project site. The driveway will allow access to Array C and D from North Westlawn Avenue. The access <br /> road will be paved with asphalt from North Westlawn Avenue up to the parcel boundary as required by <br /> county code. <br /> The Project area will be surrounded by a minimum 7-foot-high security fence with manual swing gates at <br /> the main entrances. The proposed Project will not include an operations and maintenance facility or <br /> sanitary service building. <br /> Noise <br /> Based on WSP's understanding of the Decatur Northwest Commercial Solar Energy Facility located in <br /> Macon County, Illinois(Project),the Project is not expected to exceed applicable noise standards and <br /> noise level limits. Noise levels were estimated based on the following equipment list that was identified in <br /> the system summary document of this submittal and are broken down into each array section. <br /> • 1-1 — 10 x SMA Peak-3 inverters <br /> • 1-1 — 1500 kVA transformer <br /> • 1-2— 12 x SMA Peak-3 inverters <br /> • 1-2—2000 kVA transformer <br /> • 2-1 — 12 x SMA Peak-3 inverters <br /> • 2-1 —2000 kVA transformer <br /> • 2-2— 13 x SMA Peak-3 inverters <br /> • 2-2—2000 kVA transformer <br /> The above sources were broken down into an operational daytime and nighttime phase for modeling. <br /> Operation assumed that the solar inverters will be off-line during nighttime hours.Additionally,the <br /> transformers are expected to be quieter at night,if not off-line completely, due to cooling fans generally <br /> not operating while the sun is not above the horizon. However,the same daytime sound level data for the <br /> transformers was used for a predicted nighttime impact as conservative measure for the analysis. <br /> Local Ordinances <br /> Noise regulations are outlined by the Illinois Pollution Control Board in Title 35, Subtitle H,Chapter I, <br /> Part 901, subsection 901.102 Sound Emitted to Class A Land for sound emission standards at sensitive <br /> residential receptors.This section states that"no person shall cause or allow the emission of sound during <br /> daytime hours from any property-line-noise-source located on any Class A,B or C land to any receiving <br /> Class A land which exceeds any allowable octave band sound pressure level specified"(IPCB,2018). <br /> Since the Illinois noise standard is based on octave band levels,and the model is a theoretical tool,the <br /> octave bands of the standard were logarithmically added together to get a sound pressure level to compare <br /> the predicted results to the standard. The resulting daytime and nighttime noise limits are 61 dBA and 51 <br /> dBA respectively,as shown in Table 1. The Macon County noise ordinance in Title IX General <br /> Regulations, Chapter 94 Noise Control states that"during daytime hours(7:00 am to 10:00 pm)no person <br /> shall make noise to any receiving land which can be heard at a distance of 300 feet or more and/or which <br /> exceeds 60 dBA when measured at any point within the receiving residential land. During night hours <br /> (10:00 pm to 7:00 am)no person shall make noise to any receiving land which can be heard at a distance <br />