Green Garden Township Residents Threaten Incorporation to Block 6,000-Acre Solar Farm

Will County Executive Committee Meeting | February 11, 2026

Article Summary: Residents of Green Garden Township warned county officials they are moving to incorporate as a village to gain zoning control and stop a proposed 6,000-acre solar energy facility. The objectors cited concerns over zinc contamination in soil and the destruction of rural farmland.

Solar Farm Opposition Key Points:

• Project Scope: The proposed “Project Earthrise” would cover 6,000 acres in Green Garden, Wilton, and Manhattan Townships.

• Environmental Concern: Residents claim galvanized steel posts will leach zinc into the soil, rendering farmland useless.

• Legal Action: Residents threatened to sue Will County over its solar zoning statute (155-9.245).

• ** incorporation:** A grassroots group is organizing to incorporate Green Garden into a village to block the county’s jurisdiction.

The Will County Board Executive Committee on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, heard sharp opposition regarding a massive proposed solar energy development, with residents threatening to incorporate their township into a village to stop the project.

Thomas Becker, chairman of the Watershed Committee in Green Garden Township, spoke during public comment regarding “Project Earthrise,” a proposed solar facility that would span 6,000 acres across Green Garden, Wilton, and Manhattan Townships.

Becker argued that the installation of approximately 1.5 million solar panels would destroy the rural character of the area and introduce toxic materials into the ground. Specifically, he raised concerns about “galvanic corrosion” from the zinc-galvanized steel posts required to support the arrays.

“When you put them into the farmland, they leach the zinc into the soil,” Becker told the board. “That renders the crop land useless in the future. It will not return to farmland.”

Becker stated that the project threatens Fort Creek, the largest stream system in Will County, and claimed that the developer, Earthrise, rejected an opportunity to upgrade a natural gas peaker plant on 30 acres in favor of covering thousands of acres of farmland with panels.

The opposition group criticized the Will County zoning ordinance passed in 2023 (Statute 155-9.245), calling it a “legal fiction” that violates zoning standards. Becker warned that if the county proceeds with hearings scheduled for April, the residents would take legal and political action.

“If we are to stop this, we will have to sue Will County to have this statute amended,” Becker said.

Beyond litigation, the residents are pursuing municipal incorporation to strip the county of its zoning authority over the land.

“What we’re going to do in Green Garden, we’re going to incorporate Green Garden as a village,” Becker announced. “We’re also contacting our other townships, Wilton, Manhattan… they are interested in annexing to a rural district.”

Becker requested to be placed on the March County Board agenda to formally present the residents’ desire to become a village.

Later in the meeting, Land Use & Development Committee Chair Frankie Pretzel (R-New Lenox) reported that his committee had recently voted “no” on a different commercial solar energy facility request, signalling potential resistance to solar expansion among some board members.