On Nov. 2, the Johnston Zoning Board will continue their hearing on a proposed 160-acre, 19-megawatt capacity solar farm. Hearings for the meeting began on Sept. 28, though the zoning board stated ahead of time that the meeting would be capped at 3.5 hours due to extensive comment from residents and advocacy groups in opposition — leading to its continuation.
The Johnston Winsor III project was one of five solar farm projects that Green Development — a Cranston-based renewable energy developer — proposed to the Johnston Zoning Board in 2022, according to Johnston District 5 Councilor Robert Civetti. The five proposals required special permits because the areas the developers hoped to use were previously zoned for residential use mixed with open land.
In an email to The Herald, Green Development Director of Marketing and Communications Jeanne Heston wrote that “Rhode Island is the state that is most dependent on out-of-state resources — mostly natural gas — to produce its electricity, and (it) has the second-highest per-kWh price in the country, as a result of transporting all of that natural gas.”
“Our company was founded with the mission of helping to increase the percentage of R.I.-produced electricity via solar, wind and — more recently — battery storage,” she added. “The proposed Johnston project is aligned with that goal.”
The prolonged fight over the farm illustrates a key sticking point in Rhode Island’s efforts to transition to renewable energy. A 2020 executive order requires Rhode Island’s electricity sector to be 100% renewable by 2030 in an effort to stem climate change. Analysis by the Brattle Group indicates a meaningful buildout of solar is required to reduce emissions. But building solar in Rhode Island has often meant leveling forests — and alternatives are expensive, EcoRI news reported.
An ongoing battle for and against approval
The five proposals were rejected by the Johnston Zoning Board in an April 2022 meeting that ran late into the night due to the volume of resident comments, said Civetti, a vocal opponent of the developments. A July reconsideration of Winsor III plans was postponed to September; Civetti said the developers claimed the proposals promised “significant changes.” Heston declined to provide comment on changes to the proposal between April 2022 and July 2023.
In an email to The Herald, Thomas Deller, director of the Town of Johnston’s Department of Development and Public Services, wrote that the Johnston Zoning Board grants special use permits based on “the special conditions required by the zoning ordinance.”
“It is up to each individual member of the zoning board to determine how well each side makes their case,” he wrote.
A majority of the five members of the Johnston Zoning Board are required to grant a special use permit. Legislation passed by the Rhode Island State Legislature in June 2022 lowered the requirement requiring a supermajority for special use permits — but in April, At the time of the April 2022 meeting, granting the permit required approval from four of the five members. Only three voted in favor of the proposal.
At the Nov. 2 meeting, “If both sides complete the presentation of their case and public comment is closed, I would expect the board to vote,” Deller wrote. According to Civetti, Green Development will bring an additional expert witness to testify on their behalf, after which opposing residents and their legal counsel will make their cases against the permit.
Civetti said he fears that the Nov. 2 meeting will not be definitive: “With the number of people that were there at the last meeting and depending on how many residents want to speak, it’s very possible that the (decision) may get pushed out again.”
Johnston residents speak out
“These residents … their biggest investment they have is their home,” Civetti said, pointing to the opposition of many residents and local organizations against the proposal.
Most of the opposition has come from residents affiliated with Stop Johnston Solar, a community coalition “engaged to keep large industrial solar projects off of residentially zoned land,” according to the group’s website. A number of concerned residents created the group in March 2022 when the Johnston Town Planning Board — a separate body from the zoning board — granted preliminary approval for the original five industrial solar farm projects. According to Civetti, close to 200 residents affiliated with the group attended the Sept. 28 meeting.
Lynn Grissom — one of the leaders of Stop Johnston Solar — said both she and her husband were born and raised in Johnston, but would consider moving if the Johnston Zoning Board grants Green Development a special permit for Winsor III.
“The now-proposed 19-megawatt solar plant is going to be 100 to 200 feet from the back of our house … I do not want to live next to an electric grid,” she said. “There’s a place for (solar panels) — you can put them on your house, you can put them on a landfill, you can put them on top of major buildings. This area is zoned residential and that is not residential.”
Karen Cappelli Chadwick — a member of Stop Johnston Solar and one of two independent candidates for Johnston Town Mayor in 2022 — shared that she has lived in Johnston for 65 years. “Everybody's had enough with the industrial stuff, the commercial stuff,” she said. “There's plenty of commercial spaces in Johnston … plenty of places where there is no neighborhood.”
“For the folks on Winsor (Avenue) and Hopkins (Avenue) — a lot of them — they’re like three or four generations of families in the same place. They don't want to move, but they don't want that in their backyard,” Cappelli Chadwick said.
Impacts on residential space are not the only concern on residents’ minds. The 150-acre solar farm would require Green Development to clear out numerous trees and dense forestation in the area. “I don't really think we should be taking down forests of trees that help with CO2 and cooling the planet,” said Grissom.
According to a presentation prepared for the Johnston Zoning Board, the solar farm’s renewable energy capacity will be equivalent to the “carbon sequestered by 26,451 acres of U.S. forests in one year.” The proposal also outlines an approximately 82.8-acre donation of the lot’s remaining open space to the town of Johnston after the completion of the project, as well as a donation of the remaining acres once the solar farm is decommissioned. It states that the project’s decommission is required “at the end of its lifetime.”
Residents have pointed to city ordinances and moratoriums as a permanent solution against proposals like Winsor III. In January, Civetti presented a motion to enact a town ordinance that would temporarily prohibit solar development in residential areas. The proposal failed, as none of the other town council members seconded the motion. Johnston residents have highlighted existing regulations on solar in the zoning ordinances of nearby municipalities, such as those in Burrillville, Smithfield and Glocester.
Grissom emphasized that Stop Johnston Solar is not opposed to solar, but rather “for solar in the right places.” Cappelli Chadwick added, “These people do this from their heart. They have a lot to lose if this goes in their neighborhood.”
Mayor expresses support
Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. supports renewable energy projects and “would prefer to see solar rather than a mass influx of housing,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. He noted that an increased demand for services would result from additional housing development, adding that there is “no aid from the state to fill the gap.”
“Anyone is welcome to come to the meeting to voice their opinion,” he wrote. “Additionally, they are also welcome to call Town Hall and let me know their opinion.”
“The zoning board needs to make sure it makes its decision based on input from the residents who live there,” Polisena Jr. said. “They also need to weigh how many residents in that neighborhood who show up against how many total homes in that neighborhood.”
“I am against a town-wide solar ban. A one-size-fits-all plan is not beneficial to Johnston,” he added.
Responding to concerns regarding deforestation, Polisena Jr. wrote, “the land is zoned residential, so the trees will be removed whether it’s for solar or housing in lieu of solar.”
Green Development has an existing solar project in Johnston. While Polisena Jr. clarified that he was not in office when the project happened, “I’ve spoken to representatives from Green since becoming mayor and relations are cordial,” he wrote. I “would like to help any company develop renewable energy in a responsible manner.”
Polisena Jr. and his father — former Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena — have previously received significant campaign contributions from the employees of solar developers in the area, the Warwick Beacon previously reported. These donations — totaling close to $15,000, included contributions from leadership and employees of Green Development.
When asked if Green Development’s campaign contributions affected his perspective on the proposal, Polisena Jr. wrote, “I don’t have appointing authority over the zoning board. The town council does. … Green’s project has already been denied once.”
Tom Li is a Metro editor covering the health and environment and development and infrastructure beats. He is from Pleasanton, California, and is concentrating in Economics and International and Public Affairs. He is an avid RIPTA passenger and enjoys taking (and criticizing) personality tests in his free time.
