Work Begins at Beaver River Road Solar Site

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

Once green with rows of crops, the field at 172 Beaver River Road is now scraped bare and studded with heavy equipment.

A construction trailer and a portable restroom have been installed at the entrance, along with a “No Trespassing” sign and a surveillance camera.

Years of opposition from residents of the historic Beaver River Valley, as well as the town government and boards have been futile, and the construction of the commercial solar energy facility has begun.

The town is overruled

The effort to build a solar array in the field dates back to 2018, when GD Beaver River I LLC and property owner William Stamp Jr. applied for a special use permit, which was required because the property was in a low-density residential zone.

The zoning officer at the time, Russel “Bo” Brown, denied the application because it would not conform to a town ordinance requiring that solar arrays be within two miles of a utility substation.

The Planning Board denied the application because the project would not be consistent with the objectives stated in the town’s comprehensive plan, which include the preservation of rural landscapes, cultural resources and the protection of the town’s rural and architectural heritage. In addition, the board said that as part of the federally-designated Wild and Scenic Rivers system, the scenic qualities of the Beaver River deserved protection.

The developers did not give up their quest to build the commercial solar array, first appealing the case to Rhode Island Superior Court, which remanded the case to the Zoning Board, which again denied the application.

But the developers appealed yet again to Superior Court and this time, they prevailed.

The decision, issued on March 31, 2023 by Rhode Island Superior Court judge Sarah Taft-Carter, stated that the board’s reasons for denying the application were “unsupported,” and therefore, the application should have been granted. The decision also directed the Zoning Board to immediately issue the special use permit required for the project to proceed.

A final effort to reverse the court decision

In a last-ditch attempt to halt the project, the town has petitioned the Rhode Island Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, a rarely-granted order to review the decision by the lower court.

Submitted by Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth on June 30, the Memorandum of Law filed with the petition states:

“The trial court misconceived or overlooked material evidence and made findings that were clearly wrong in determining that the Board’s decision was based on insufficient evidence.”

Ellsworth concludes that a commercial-scale solar facility, while laudable in principle, is inappropriate in a rural community that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“There is no question that production of solar energy is crucial to slowing the rate of climate change and mitigating the effects of fossil fuel use,” Ellsworth wrote. “But solar installations are not appropriate in every setting. If there was ever a place where it would be obviously wrong to install acres of solar energy panels, the Beaver River Road Historic District is it. Landscapes such as the one on Beaver River Road are what make each city and town in Rhode Island unique. Richmond has always been an agricultural community. No place in Richmond reflects that history more vividly than Beaver River Road. The Zoning Board’s decision in this case reflects the Town’s effort to maintain its rural character and keep alive a part of its rural past.”

A second petition for a writ of certiorari was submitted on June 29 by attorney Thomas Dickinson, who represents abutting property owner and historic preservationist John Peixinho, who could not comment publicly on the project because his case is before the courts.

Construction begins

After winning their court appeal, the developers wasted no time starting the project. If the rapid pace of construction is any indication, Green Development is not waiting for determinations on the two petitions.

From their home, built in the mid-1700s and located across the road from the construction site, Gail Tibbits and her husband Andy have watched with dismay as the field has been transformed.

“It’s very sad to see what’s happening out there, more so for my husband than for me,” she said. “It was his grandfather’s farm that they bought, back in 1925. His mother and his three aunts were raised here.”

Andy Tibbits’ grandfather sold the land in the 1960s because he was too told to farm it, and it was later sold again, to the Stamp family.

Stamp’s decision to convert the property from farmland to a solar field follows the sale by his daughter, Cindy Duncan, of her Richmond plant nursery to Green Development.

That project drew complaints from neighbors during and after its construction and when it was completed, the Duncans sold what was left of the property to Pasquale Farms and moved away.

“It’s just hard,” Tibbits said. “It’s hard to look out the window. Right now, we’ve got a fairly decent buffer of trees along the road on the opposite side.”

The trees are on town property so the developer can’t remove them, but they are deciduous, so Tibbits said she was expecting the site to be more visible in the winter.

Tibbits also worries about the value of her property and whether it would be negatively impacted if she and her husband ever decided to sell it.

“We’ll see what happens, 10 years, 15 years from now if we want to try to sell,” she said. “We have a historic home here, but that is going to take away from it. That was another thing, when the National Register recognized this road. And now what?”

(A listing on the National Register of Historic Places does not preclude development.)

The real estate tax for the site is still to be determined.

Town Council President Mark Trimmer said it was unfortunate that construction had begun.

“It’s very disappointing that the property owner and the solar developer have chosen to move ahead with this project, given the fact that the public is so dead set against it,” he said. “My feeling is that once this type of land is gone, it’s gone forever. We’re giving away, for small money, beautiful land that will never be replicated again.”

Banner image shows the area of disturbance along Beaver River Road as construction begins.