By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
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| The Hopkinton Town Council has several commercial solar projects to consider. (Tim Faulkner/ecoRI News photos) |
This year more than a dozen applications for commercial solar arrays have been submitted to the town, forcing officials and the public to address the issue.
Residents who turn out at town meetings overwhelming oppose the
projects because forestland and open space would be converted to solar fields.
The latest project being contested is a 13.8-megawatt solar system that will clear-cut thousands of trees on three lots.
The latest project being contested is a 13.8-megawatt solar system that will clear-cut thousands of trees on three lots.
On June 13, the Planning Board recommended that the Town Council
reject the application. New siting regulations are being drafted by the town
for solar applications.
But Rhode Island Solar Renewable Energy III LLC and a larger project, Brushy Brook Solar, aren't subject to any future rule changes or a possible moratorium on commercial solar-energy systems.
But Rhode Island Solar Renewable Energy III LLC and a larger project, Brushy Brook Solar, aren't subject to any future rule changes or a possible moratorium on commercial solar-energy systems.
Residents, many of whom live near the Rhode Island Solar Renewable
Energy project site on Old Depot Road, finally had a chance to speak in an open
forum after a four-hour presentation of the 70-acre project by the developer on
July 2.
Project opponents at the July 16 Town Council meeting at Chariho
Middle School urged the members to reject the zoning changes proposed by the
developer, Anthony Del Vicario of Warwick.
Joseph Moreau of Old Depot Road was one of the few abutters in the neighborhood to receive a public notice of the solar project. He circulated the letter to neighbors, starting an opposition movement.
“Try to keep Hopkinton country. That's why we moved here,” Moreau
said.
He explained how he researched the project for several weeks. He
studied the previous business ventures of Del Vicario and urged the council to
consider them in its decision.
Like other residents, Moreau also implored the council to consider
the long-term impacts of large-scale solar farms on Hopkinton’s woodlands and
natural calm and to protect the community for future generations of residents.
“Do what’s right, not what’s easy,” Moreau said.
Sharon Davis said the project contradicts the town’s comprehensive
plan that calls for protecting farms, wildlife, and natural habitat. She urged
the Town Council to support a temporary hold on all commercial solar arrays and
to hire an independent consultant to review the impact of the latest project.
Davis also urged the town to work with a state solar-energy siting group led by
the Office of Energy Resources to develop rules for such projects.
The group failed this year to pass a bill that required all municipalities to develop siting standards.
But the group has the support of Rhode Island’s largest conservation groups such as the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and The Nature Conservancy.
The group failed this year to pass a bill that required all municipalities to develop siting standards.
But the group has the support of Rhode Island’s largest conservation groups such as the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and The Nature Conservancy.
Rosemary Theriault said the town was already suffering from a new
office building built near I-95.
“Everything you do has consequences,” she said.
Approving the project and other solar proposals, she said, goes
against the will of the people.
“There are so many project coming up it’s going to change the way
we live,” Theriault said.
Town Council President Frank Landolfi urged several speakers not
to pass judgement on the council’s intentions regarding this and future
proposals.
“Some like solar and some don’t,” he said. “We have to weigh all
the decisions at the end of the day.”