Considering battery storage on land near Jacksonville?

Check the authority for your actual parcel

The ordinance addresses land within the city and nearby unincorporated land where Jacksonville exercises zoning authority. Start with the parcel number and location; do not decide the responsible office from the postal address alone.

If your land is outside the city boundary, ask the project team to establish which authority will review this proposal. Keep that answer with the proposed site plan. A discussion about a different property nearby may involve a different review route.

You can contact Sunland without knowing your zoning classification. Describe what you own and what you might make available. The first review should identify missing information before anyone promises a permit schedule or asks you to reserve the land.

Reference: Jacksonville, Illinois: signed Ordinance 2026-O-004, adopted March 23, 2026

Know what property authorization allows

The application materials include property-owner authorization or proof of ownership. Ask to see the document your name would appear on before signing it.

Have the developer explain whether a request only permits an application, authorizes entry and testing, or grants broader rights. Those are separate decisions. Ask which company receives permission, which parcel it covers and when that permission ends.

Keep a dated copy of the layout attached to any permission. If the equipment, road or connection route changes, ask how you would approve the revision. A conversation about an unused corner should not leave the controlled area open to later interpretation.

Before site visits or ground disturbance, discuss notice, insurance, repair and interference with your current use. Tell the team about tenants, shared entrances, buried drainage and any part of the property you cannot make available.

Reference: Jacksonville, Illinois: signed Ordinance 2026-O-004, adopted March 23, 2026

Compare the working footprint with the rent area

Local review calls for a site plan covering roads, drainage and utility connections as well as equipment. Ask for a drawing you can compare with the area described in the offer.

Mark the permanent battery area, any temporary construction space and every route across land you would retain. Which areas would be fenced? Where would trucks turn, workers park and maintenance vehicles enter?

Consider an owner who wants to keep a workshop in use. A battery area behind the building may look convenient until its entrance crosses the workshop delivery route. Show that conflict early and ask whether an alternative layout is practical.

Ask who pays if the access road must be wider, drainage work extends farther or a cable crosses another parcel. Decide how additional land rights would be priced and accepted. The rent figure is easier to assess once the complete footprint is known.

Reference: Jacksonville, Illinois: signed Ordinance 2026-O-004, adopted March 23, 2026

Understand what the removal security protects

Section 12 requires removal and restoration planning and financial assurance payable to the city. That security should be discussed alongside the private agreement, rather than treated as a substitute for it.

Ask who posts and maintains the security, what work its estimate covers and how you would know it remains in place. Have the documents identify the project company and the responsibilities it accepts; do not rely on the word “owner” without an explanation.

Have the lease spell out what must happen to equipment, buried improvements, roads and disturbed ground. If you want an improvement left behind, ask whether that is compatible with the approved removal plan and how the choice would be recorded.

Also discuss unpaid rent, damage, access during cleanup and the release of recorded property rights. Ask how each is handled under the actual documents. A fund for removal work does not by itself tell you when your land becomes available again.

Reference: Jacksonville, Illinois: signed Ordinance 2026-O-004, adopted March 23, 2026

Plan for a shutdown or a new operator

The ordinance addresses changes in ownership or operational control and continuing responsibilities, including removal. Ask how the agreement with you handles the same change.

Identify who owes rent, who handles maintenance and who you can reach about a blocked gate or damaged road. If the project is transferred, ask how you receive the new contact details and what proof shows that obligations have been taken over.

Ask what happens during a prolonged shutdown: which payments continue, who keeps the site maintained and how the decision to remove equipment is made. Have the team explain the removal schedule in the approved plan and reconcile it with the lease deadlines.

During early development, compare the option end date with the work still needed. Would another period require your consent and a payment? If the developer stops, who removes temporary work and releases any recorded rights? Put those answers in terms you can check later.

Reference: Jacksonville, Illinois: signed Ordinance 2026-O-004, adopted March 23, 2026

Separate review milestones from your payment terms

A proposed filing date, a hearing date and an issued approval describe different stages. Ask which stage has actually been reached and request the relevant record if an application exists.

Have the offer name the event that starts full rent. Is it a fixed date, construction, operation or another milestone? Ask what you are paid before then, whether that period has a firm limit and what changes if the project takes longer.

Request a plain explanation of the utility work still required and who bears its cost. Nearby electrical infrastructure may be worth investigating, but it is not a connection commitment for the battery proposed on your land.

If a revised design needs more space or longer control of the site, discuss that as a change to the arrangement. Do not compare offers only by the annual rent; compare the area controlled, time reserved and responsibilities as well.

Start with the property location

Use the form to send your contact details, then the location. Illinois and Morgan County are selected for this page and can be changed. Acreage and a parcel number are optional.

Mention the part you might consider and anything you need to keep using: a building, field entrance, delivery route or tenant space. If you already have an offer, tell us which questions you want to understand.

Sending an inquiry starts a review of the information you provide. It does not reserve your property or authorize a planning or utility application.