Johnston’s running low on open space.
Following a unanimous decision by the Johnston Planning Board, more than 300 acres in town may soon be partially cleared and covered by industrial solar panels.
“If we get rid of these last few open parcels, I’m not sure how much open space we have remaining in town,” said Town Councilman Robert J. Civetti. “At some point we still need to maintain the character of the town. And we’re slowly losing that.”
Cranston-based Green Development has pitched five new solar array projects for western Johnston. They’ve made a pair of planning board appearances over the past month.
On Thursday, the Johnston Planning Board voted to approve the master plans for five proposed solar fields constructed on mostly wooded plots across approximately 325 acres.
Green Development proposed five master plans for five separate solar fields off Elmgrove Avenue, Harilla Lane and Winsor Avenue.
The first attempt to hear the master plan presentation went haywire on Feb. 15, as planning board officials struggled to get audio and video equipment to function, in order to broadcast the live meeting online.
After more than an hour grappling with the AV issues, the board eventually decided to delay the solar field discussions until last week, March 3.
Concerned abutters, Civetti, and others packed the Johnston Municipal Court building at 1600 Atwood Ave. Thursday evening. Johnston Fire Chief Peter J. Lamb kept count at the door, ensuring the meeting’s attendance didn’t break the building’s 87-body occupancy limit.
Kevin Morin, Director of Engineering & Project Development for Green Development, delivered his company’s solar field pitch. He assured the board that the solar fields would require minimum attention from town services and the properties may be available for future development after two decades.
Morin also reminded residents that, due to local ordinance, each solar field will generate money for the town’s scholarship fund.
“The Planning Board unanimously passed the approval of the master plans,” Civetti said. “It now goes to zoning for approval of special use variants. If approved, it goes back to planning where they can get many more details.”
The five projects include — a 1.0 Megawatt solar field, called, GD Johnston Elmgrove II, at 25 Elmgrove Ave. (AP 51 Lot 4, zoned R40); GD Johnston Harilla I, a 2.25 MW solar field at 28 Harilla Lane (AP 51 Lots 9 & 11, zoned R40); GD Johnston Winsor I, a 4.0 MW solar field at 46 Winsor Ave. (AP 60 Lot 4, zoned R40); GD Johnston Winsor II, a proposed 8.0 MW solar field at 86 Winsor Ave (AP 60 Lots 2, 20, 86, zoned R20 & R40); and GD Johnston Winsor III, a proposed 24.0 MW solar field at 112 Winsor Ave. (AP 59 Lot 15, zoned R40).
“My opinion is mixed,” Civetti said following the conclusion of the botched Feb. 15 meeting. “I don’t have enough details.”
Following the March 3 meeting, Civetti said he still had doubts the project would be the best option for the five residentially zoned parcels.
“I think there’s still a lot of uncertainties,” Civetti said on Tuesday. “It’s not so much the project going there, it’s the magnitude of it. What sort of buffers will be in place? How will it be situated on the property? Ultimately, especially the largest parcel, there’s a lot of wetlands. What are they clearing?”
The proposed solar arrays are not Green Development’s first foray into Johnston.
The Johnston-Scituate solar project, a 4.675 MW solar project on 17 acres along Scituate Avenue in Johnston, has been operational since 2021.
Green Development owns, operates, and maintains the solar array and sells power to National Grid through the Renewable Energy Growth (REG) program, according to the company’s website.
The firm is also behind the Johnston Wind Project, along Plainfield Pike and Shun Turnpike in Johnston.
Johnston Wind consists of seven 3-MW wind turbines completed in 2018 and operational since December 2018.
Now that the Planning Board has approved the master plans, Green Development will be required to appear before the town’s Zoning Board.
“Solar’s your best neighbor,” Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “This is an option. A developer could put houses there instead of solar.”
Solar fields don’t have children to educate. They don’t generate trash for the town to haul away. Vehicles accessing the sites will be minimal once the fields are constructed and operational. And so far, Polisena said, Green Development have been solid community partners.
“There’s always that argument,” Civetti countered. “What does it cost to put houses there? As a resident in that area, many have told me they’d rather look out a window and see a home on that property. There are reports out there that if you live next to one of these solar farms your property value reduces 7 percent. I think a lot of people I talk to, they’d rather look at a house than industrial solar panels.”
The Planning Board and Town Planner Thomas Deller have pledged to update the town’s Comprehensive Plan. For now, the planning documents don’t adequately address solar projects.
“It’s silent in our Comprehensive Plan,” Civetti said. “Until that new Comprehensive Plan is prepared and it covers solar farms, maybe we’re at the point where we have to hold off for now.”
CUTLINES
(Sun Rise photo by Rory Schuler)
SOLAR 2 Johnston turbine dedication FILE
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here