Illinois

Buying Land in Tazewell County, Illinois

Tazewell County, seat Pekin, sits directly across the Illinois River from Peoria and is part of the Peoria metropolitan area. Its unincorporated land is zoned countywide from Pekin, and the county has both a long-operating wind farm and a county board that has recently shown it will say no to a renewable-energy proposal it doesn't like.

Zoning: a countywide ordinance administered from Pekin

The Tazewell County Community Development Department, at 11 South 4th Street (Room 400) in Pekin, administers the county's zoning ordinance -- Chapter 157 of the county code -- for unincorporated territory under 55 ILCS 5 Division 5-12, issuing building permits, zoning compliance certificates, and rezoning/variance/special-use applications heard by the county Zoning Board of Appeals. The department also enforces the county's separate Subdivision Ordinance, Erosion/Sediment/Storm Water Control Ordinance, Flood Plain Development Ordinance, and -- distinct from general zoning -- a dedicated Wind Farm Ordinance. Land inside Pekin or any of the county's other incorporated cities and villages is governed by that municipality's own zoning code instead.

Tazewell County uses Illinois's standard township form of government, not the commission form used by 17 of the state's 102 counties. Because the county has adopted its own comprehensive zoning ordinance, township-level zoning under Article 110 (60 ILCS 1) does not independently apply here, though a township plan commission's formal objection to a proposed rezoning still triggers the three-fourths county board supermajority requirement under 55 ILCS 5/5-12007.

Rail Splitter Wind Farm and a proposed expansion

The Rail Splitter Wind Farm, operated by EDP Renewables, has generated power partly in Tazewell County since 2009 -- one of the longer-running wind projects in this part of central Illinois. More recently, EDP Renewables North America has been in early-stage development on a proposed expansion, sometimes referred to as Rail Splitter II, targeting the southern part of the county with roughly 20 to 28 additional turbines and an estimated 100 megawatts of added capacity; as of the most recent reporting found in this research pass, the project remained in early development rather than under construction.

If you're evaluating land near the existing Rail Splitter footprint or in the county's southern townships, ask directly with the Community Development Department whether a specific parcel carries a recorded wind lease or easement, and whether any expansion application has since moved forward.

Coyote Road Solar -- and a county board that just said no to a smaller solar proposal

Separately, RWE's Coyote Road Solar project -- a 150-megawatt photovoltaic facility proposed across up to roughly 1,300 acres in Delavan and Malone Townships in southwestern Tazewell County -- has been in development, with construction reported as targeted for 2025. At the same time, the county board has shown it will scrutinize renewable proposals closely rather than approve them routinely: in mid-2026, the Tazewell County Board voted 17-2 to deny a special-use permit for a much smaller, 5-megawatt community solar farm proposed near the intersection of Lowery and Gresham Roads in Mackinaw Township, citing the project's location and concerns raised by nearby residents. In the same session, the board approved a new, more restrictive countywide renewable-energy ordinance tightening the rules for wind, solar, and battery-storage siting going forward, alongside separate zoning-code updates covering smaller direct-use solar and wind systems.

That combination -- an active utility-scale solar project in one part of the county and a rejected smaller proposal plus a newly tightened ordinance elsewhere -- means Tazewell County's renewable-energy rules are genuinely in flux as of this writing. See our dedicated wind and solar leasing page for Tazewell County for what this means if you're a landowner weighing a lease offer or a buyer evaluating land near any of these projects.

Septic, wells, and other departments to know

Septic (private sewage disposal) and water-well permitting in Tazewell County runs through the Tazewell County Health Department, which reviews applications and issues permits under the statewide IDPH framework -- state law requires the department to act on a completed application within 15 days, and a soil investigation is required before a septic permit can issue. A standard water-well permit runs roughly $100, and closed-loop (geothermal) well permits are priced per borehole. Office hours run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings and afternoons, with shorter Wednesday hours.

For recorded deeds, easements (including any wind- or solar-lease documents), and plats affecting a specific parcel, contact the Tazewell County Clerk and Recorder. The county's Supervisor of Assessments handles property valuation, and University of Illinois Extension serves Tazewell County through its regional office network covering central Illinois.

What we could and couldn't confirm

Tazewell County Community Development Department contact details and ordinance scope are drawn from the county's own website as indexed by search, since direct WebFetch access to tazewell-il.gov was blocked by a network egress restriction throughout this research pass. Rail Splitter Wind Farm's operating history is drawn from Wikipedia; the Rail Splitter II expansion figures are drawn from a 2021 WCBU Peoria report describing early-stage development, and this research pass could not confirm whether the project has since advanced to a formal county application. Coyote Road Solar's capacity, acreage, and township locations are drawn from RWE's own project page. The July-August 2026 Mackinaw solar farm denial (17-2 vote) and the accompanying renewable-energy ordinance changes are corroborated across three independent central-Illinois news outlets (25 News, WCBU, WMBD) reporting the same county board actions within days of each other, which this research pass treats as reliable; direct WebFetch to all three outlets was blocked, so these facts are drawn from search-indexed summaries of the reporting rather than a full verbatim read of any single article.

Verify directly with: the Tazewell County Community Development Department ((309) 477-2235) for the county's current, specific renewable-energy ordinance and the status of any pending wind/solar application near a specific parcel, the Tazewell County Health Department for septic and well permitting, and the Tazewell County Clerk and Recorder for existing recorded wind/solar-lease easements on a specific parcel

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Tazewell County

Direct WebFetch access to tazewell-il.gov and tazewellhealth.org was blocked by a network egress restriction throughout this research pass, so several department details reflect search-indexed content rather than a full verbatim read -- confirm current staff, hours, fees, and ordinance status directly before relying on this page for a specific parcel.

Planning & Zoning

Tazewell County Community Development Department

Zoning verification, building permits, rezoning/variance/special-use applications (including wind/solar siting), and the Wind Farm Ordinance for unincorporated Tazewell County.

Phone: (309) 477-2235Email: zoning@tazewell-il.govOfficial website →