We should protect legacy of Knight Farm

To the Editor:

The mayor’s announcement that a third utility-scale solar project has been proposed for Western Cranston adds to the growing impact of these projects.

In 2003 Cranston gained ownership of 240 acres of the woods, wetlands, corn fields and hay fields of the Knight farm located west of the Chafee ball fields along Hope Road, Laten Knight Road, Burlingame Road and Lippitt Ave. Seventy acres of woods, wetlands and fields lie between Burlingame and Lippitt, adjacent to the site of a proposed 60-acre solar project. Another 112 acres are across Hope Road from the proposed 50-acre solar project. A third project, apparently called Hope-Scituate Solar, will require another 60-80 acres to produce 20 MW. For comparison, the Chafee ball fields complex and Hope Highlands Middle School cover 76 acres.

The scale of these projects is immense, generating hundreds of truck deliveries. The Lippitt Avenue project illustrates the impact. Sixty acres of woods will be clear-cut, scrapped clean of all vegetation and wildlife, covered with about 60,000 solar panels, and surrounded by a six-foot chain link fence nearly 1.3 miles in length. The solar panels alone will fill over 100 40-foot shipping containers. Add to that the delivery of all the support racks, electrical equipment and wiring and enough gravel to build a 20-foot road nearly two miles long. All of that construction traffic will have to go over the narrow winding roads of Western Cranston up Wilbur Avenue out Hope Road past the ball fields to Lippitt Avenue. The shoulder of one long stretch of Hope Road isn’t wide enough for a bicycle tire.

The Lippitt Avenue project will place the chain link fence against the Knight farm hay field’s old stonewall with the gravel road and solar panels behind it. There will be nothing to shield the conservation land from the visual impact of the project. This does not have to happen. Cranston regulations allow for a 25-foot vegetated buffer along that stonewall, but city official refuse to impose even that minor condition. Other communities mandate setbacks of 20 to 50 feet plus the vegetated buffer to protect the adjacent property owners, residential or conservation. Some do not allow forests to be cut down for solar projects.

If city officials won’t protect the public’s land, then why would they protect your backyard? Any Western Cranston undeveloped land of 5, 10, 25 acres and more within the two-acre zoning district lies open to exploitation. We need a comprehensive solar zoning ordinance to protect the residents and the land from these massive projects just as other communities have done. In addition, city officials need to work with state and federal officials to protect undeveloped land by purchasing the land or development rights or obtaining conservation easements. Voters approved the 2016 Green Economy Bond to provide the funds. Public and private groups came together to protect the Knight Farm. We should build upon that legacy instead of destroying woods and fields in the name of clean energy.

Douglas Doe

Cranston