Who's a better neighbor? A solar field or a new housing development?

Johnston residents tour the site of five proposed new solar fields

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No matter the Johnston Zoning Board’s next decision, residents living in quiet neighborhoods throughout the town’s mostly rural western edge are likely to get new neighbors.

The debate’s over whether the new neighbors should be fields packed with industrial solar panels or new homes occupied by new families.

Cranston-based Green Development has pitched five solar field projects for Johnston. Last month, the Johnston Planning Board gave the master plans their unanimous approval.

On Thursday, March 31, the Zoning Board will consider moving the projects forward.

If the Zoning Board gives its blessing, the plans move back to the Planning Board for a final set of conditions and approvals.

The fields are planned for parcels of land in the town’s west end, constructed on mostly forested parcels hidden behind strips of residential development. Many trees will be cleared and some topography altered.

“It’s really not a choice of the trees staying there, exactly like they are, forever,” said Hannah Morini, Green Development’s Director of Business Development. “These are privately owned parcels, and the landowners wish to do something with them. The land is not … going to stay like it is forever.”

Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena has endorsed the project. He said new housing developments would be far more taxing of town resources than solar fields. And the solar fields, Polisena argues, will bring financial incentives to a local scholarship program.

Most of those gathered on Rollingwood Drive Saturday lived nearby. They were homeowners who fear the loss of their neighborhood’s rural character. They were joined by their representative on Town Council, Robert Civetti.

Representatives for Green Development set up an easel and stood where the grass met the paved street.

The residents lined up in the road, and like a firing squad, they sent repeated volleys — pointed questions — toward the potential developers.

Green Development’s Kevin Morin, Director of Engineering & Project Development, and John McCauley, Director of Sales, referred to enlarged maps of the area. They tried to give neighbors a glimpse into the future.

“What is the benefit to people?” Asked one resident. “We know the benefit to you guys. But what’s the benefit to us?”

“Well, hopefully it will stabilize your tax base,” McCauley replied.

The gang of residents laughed.

“We’ve heard that before,” one voice declared.

The group eventually made its way into the woods, where they trekked to find pink ribbons marking the likely fence-line that will be built to encircle the new solar fields.

Ray Arruda lives in a yellow house at 74 Rollingwood Drive. You can see the pink ribbons from his backyard.

“I think it’s going to impact everybody,” Arruda said, standing in the woods next to a pink ribbon tied around the trunk of an old thick pine tree. “We want it to affect us minimally.”

Morini and Green Development Spokesperson Bill Fischer answered a series of follow-up questions on Tuesday morning.

“We do not focus on cutting down trees,” Morini said. “It is a symptom of any kind of development. Not just renewable energy development. These are great sites for housing. In a large housing development, trees will come down as well.”

According to Green Development, the five solar fields will be constructed on land totaling 324.86 acres. Of those 324.86 acres, approximately 133.15 acres will be surrounded by fencing, with solar panels occupying around 41 percent of the acreage.

“The assumption that it’s solar or forest, for the conceivable future, is another false assumption,” Fischer said.

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).

Solar development is a special use permitted under Johnston’s zoning laws.

Although the town documented the importance of preserving land like the parcels currently identified for development in its last update of the Johnston Comprehensive Plan, in 2007, the town’s elected officials never took possession of any of that land.

Instead, the land remained in private hands and those owners have decided to sell.

“If I was going to have a bunch of new neighbors or a solar project, I would take the solar project,” Morini said. “I would rather have a pollinating mix and wildflowers over front lawns competing for irrigation and excess fertilizer. I would personally rather have a solar field with a meadow underneath it.”

Both Morini and Fischer stressed the temporary nature of the solar project.

“When a field becomes a neighborhood, it’s usually a neighborhood forever,” Fischer said. “Solar fields can revert back over time.”

“There could be an opportunity in the future,” Morini said. “This is temporary and housing is forever.”

Green Development told the Planning Board that there may be an option for the town to take control of the land in after the solar fields are decommissioned.

In fact, after Tuesday morning’s interview, Morini researched the company’s proposal further.

“We are proposing to donate about 275 acres on Winsor (Avenue) to the Johnston Land Trust upon receipt of all approvals for the solar projects,” Morini wrote in a follow-up email. “Green Development would lease the property back from the Land Trust for the solar projects. This land will never be in the ownership of Green again. It will remain with the Johnston Land Trust.”

Essentially, Green Development would acquire the land, donate it back to the town’s Land Trust, and then lease the land for an agreed-upon length of time (likely 20-25 years). After the lease ends, future town officials can reimagine the parcels; let them return to their natural state or develop them further.

“The plan is that this will be a major conservation opportunity for the town,” Morini argued. “This is their opportunity to get the land into conservation for perpetuity. It is so much better than having a permanent housing development.”

Civetti pointed to an online petition as evidence the project is not welcome in Johnston’s west-end.

Around 325 residents had signed the petition “Johnston, RI Citizens AGAINST Commercial Solar in Residential Zones” (at change.org) as of Wednesday morning.

“This project is not right for a residential zone,” Civetti said via text message. “Zoning can vote it down.”

Johnston’s Zoning Board plans to hear Green Development’s case for “Special Use Permits” at all five sites during their meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Thursday, March 31, at the Johnston Senior Center, 1291 Hartford Ave.

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