A plan to develop a solar array on the former Kewanee Boiler property took a step forward last week.

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a special use permit to allow EnPower Solutions of Birmingham, Ala., to build a five-megawatt solar array on the site on the west side of Kewanee.

The permit will be taken up at next week’s City Council meeting. The council has the final say on zoning changes.

The Kewanee Boiler site is zoned M-2 for manufacturing, but city ordinances require a special use permit in addition to manufacturing zoning for a solar array.

An ordinance also stipulates that the solar development won’t “be detrimental to the health, safety, morals or general welfare of persons residing or working in the vicinity to injurious to property values or improvements in the vicinity.”

At the commission meeting, Miles Walding, director of community development for EnPower, said company officials “happened to come through the city of Kewanee several months ago and came across the old Boiler property,” according to the minutes of the meeting.

EnPower officials “reached out to the new owner of the property and entered into a lease agreement,” Walding told the commission.

If the permit is approved, Walding said, EnPower will bring in a surveyor to review what was done earlier in an Environmental Protection Agency cleanup of the site. “EnPower will do some demolition work and plans to hire local contractors for much of the work,” according to the minutes.

Walding said the solar panels will cover about half of the 30-plus acre Boiler site. The solar panels would sit above the ground, with no ground disturbance.

While the completion date of such projects varies, Walding said the installation should be completed within two years. When the solar system goes online, the company will offer the power it generates to Kewaneeans, who could save as much as 10 percent on their electricity.

Commission members expressed concern about a well on the Boiler site, and Walding said EnPower will “take care of everything on the site as it pertains to this project.”

Two people who live near the Boiler site addressed the commission.

Felipe Favela, 331 Rice St., asked if the development would prohibit him from adding a solar array to his own property. It would not, Community Development Officer Keith Edwards said.

And Michael Riske, 239 Rice St., said he is in favor of the special use permit, and likes that someone is going to do something with the Boiler property.