WORK SESSION

Pursuant to Executive Orders executed by

the Governor of RI as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic,

this meeting was held virtually via Zoom

Members present:     Michael DeFrancesco, Scott Millar, William Haas, Donna Pari, Gina Thurn, Michael Viveiros and Donna Di Donato

Members Absent:      None

Staff present: William DePasquale, Planner and Dixie Foisy, Clerk

I.                CALL TO ORDER:

Chair Michael DeFrancesco called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

II.              PUBLIC COMMENT:

None

III.            WORK SESSION:

A.    OVERLAY DISTRICT FOR CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture)

Chair Michael DeFrancesco asked the Town Planner to introduce and review.

Bill DePasquale referenced his CEA Amendment memorandum dated April 21, 2021and asked the Chair if he should go through each section.

Scott Millar asked to interject before getting into the “weeds” of the Overlay district he suggested reviewing (2) things.  He stated that the Board has been tasked with providing an advisory opinion to the Town Council and the clock may be ticking; we have 45 days to do so.  The second thing is that we have to determine if this is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and the purposes of zoning.  He suggested that we should start with consistency with the Comp Plan first due to the time clock issue.

Bill DePasquale noted that consistency with the Comp Plan is important and spoke to the time clock status.

Chair DeFrancesco then asked the Planner to review the section of his memo that addresses the Comprehensive Plan.

Bill DePasquale referred to page 2 of his memo and reviewed the purpose of the overlay, noting that this must be engrained with the consistency of the Comp Plan.

Mr. Millar stated, in his opinion, utility scale solar in a residential zone is not consistent with the current Comp Plan or the existing solar ordinance, and as we all know utility scale solar is only allowed in an Industrial zone with a special use permit.  He shared that back in 2018, the then Planning Board issued a very detailed advisory opinion to the Town Council as to why utility scale solar was not consistent with the Comp Plan and added that we could refer to that memo and pull some information from that.  Scott Millar then spoke to the size of the proposed greenhouse, being a million square feet, and compared the foot print to being like the size of the Warwick Mall.  He feels this is inconsistent with our Comp Plan as the Town has a size limitation of 40,000 square feet.  Scott Millar also stated that a CEA is defined by Cornell University as plants grown hydroponically.  He feels this proposal has merit, but should be located in an Industrial zone, and is not consistent with the economic development policies and clearly is not consistent with the Comp Plan or the vision for Exeter.

Gina Thurn stated that as a farmer, having both greenhouses and solar on her property, respectfully disagreed with Scott Millar.  She stated that she grows hydroponically and uses solar to help grow the plants; this is farming.  Ms. Thurn stated that farming is changing and as technology changes, the economics of farming has decreased in the last 50 years.  What the Schartner’s are proposing is the fastest growing form of farming in the Eastern half of the US due to land challenges. She stated that she feels telling the Schartner’s “You can still farm but only the way we say you should farm” is an insult.  Ms. Thurn then addressed the solar aspect of this proposal.

Chair Michael DeFrancesco stated that we have two opinions that are contrary and noted that the Planning Board has to provide an “advisory opinion” to the Town Council.  The Chair stated that he agrees with both Scott Millar and Gina Thurn, but continued that this proposal, as it stands, is in violation with the existing Comp Plan.  We also have to take into consideration zoning and economic development.  Chair DeFrancesco then suggested that the Board conduct a site visit to the Schartner Farm property as has been done in the past with other projects.

Michael Viveiros shared that he concurs with the Chair’s comments; he agrees with Scott Millar’s opinion, but does also agree with Gina Thurn and the need to progress with farming this way. He added that he feels the Schartner’s are ambitious and leading with new technology.

He also stated that as a Rhode Islander, this is something he would love to happen. However, he stated, he is torn as to this being the right site, the right way, but that he is truly very interested

Bill Haas stated that he agrees with Scott Millar and asked if this was really farming?  He suggested maybe farming needs to be redefined.  He added that this definitely is not consistent with our Comprehensive Plan and has problems with this proposal.

Donna Pari agrees that this is not consistent with the Comp Plan.

Donna Di Donato also agrees that what they are proposing is not consistent with the Comp Plan and what they have planned for Exeter.

Attorney Steven Surdut emphasized that has been stated before, the area underneath the greenhouse will not be concrete; the growing area will remain.  He stated that this type of farming is novel in the United States, but that this type of farming has been done in Holland for many years and shared that Holland provides the majority of the food for all of Europe.  Mr. Surdut added that the Schartner family is promoting to continue agricultural development and they intend to continue growing around the greenhouse on the existing farmland.

Chair DeFrancesco thanked Steve Surdut for his comments but noted that he spoke to the one area that is somewhat favorable to the Comp Plan, but failed to mention that this property is located in a residential zone and that this limits the size of said greenhouse and a solar array.

Gina Thurn asked Steve Surdut at what point would their investors pull out of the deal based on limiting the size of the greenhouse. 

Steven Surdut stated that all the other projects their primary builder (Havecon) is working on all over the world, are typically 75-acre CEA/Greenhouses and do not build any under 25 acres in size so this one would be the bare minimum in size.

Scott Millar spoke to limiting the size of the greenhouse and possibly a conservation easement. Further discussion ensued.

Chair DeFrancesco asked the Board if they would be in favor of doing a site visit.  The Board agreed to doing a site visit.

Attorney Surdut will coordinate a date and time and will confirm with the Planning Department.

B.    REVITY UPDATE

For the record, Donna Pari recused herself from this discussion, as she is an abutter. 

Chair Michael DeFrancesco introduced this item and turned over to Bill DePasquale to review.

Bill DePasquale stated that this is similar to the discussion just had with the previous agenda item.  He stated we have an underlying zone that does not allow for utility scale solar but questioned if this land can be used for solar with the rationale being that the land may have been compromised via either man made or through other conditions.  He stated that the plan was to look at different avenues that would open up options for the petitioner to come forward with a zone change or overlay district.  Mr. DePasquale added that he believes as a community, we should be addressing these solar issues together and feels we should look at ancillary, supportive, net metering, together with allowed by right roof top solar, land fills and other compromised lands.  He then referenced the Comp Plan and 5.2.8.B.2 Planned Industrial Development, Planned Business Development and 5.2.8.B.3 and stated that these contemplate that there are other land forms in the Town that might benefit from this Planned District.  Bill stated the good news is that there is some opening in the language, so that if the petitioner and the Boards are inclined to move in that direction, we would be required to do a Comprehensive Plan Amendment.  Bill DePasquale further discussed other options such as a change to LI zone or build a Planned District, but when doing so a zone change must be done as well as an amendment to the Comp Plan.  He also addressed the Town supporting conservation rights so there is a long-term benefit and conservation give back.

Chair DeFrancesco asked the Board for their input.

Scott Millar stated he is not comfortable with the PD option as he thinks of this as creating a mixture of uses and feels that this would make it very difficult for the Town to define what the parameters are. He stated that he isn’t clear why it would be okay for Schartner to do an overlay district but not do an overlay district for this property as they are both, in part, to accommodate utility solar. Mr. Millar added that he believes an overlay district would be a neater and cleaner way, especially if we go in the direction of the CEA proposal.  He stated there is another option to do a conditional zone change because the site has been disturbed and agrees that 50% of the site could be preserved, in perpetuity, and the Town Council could then get around the spot zoning.

Further discussion ensued between Bill DePasquale and Scott Millar regarding the Comprehensive Plan. Planned Districts, Overlay Districts and conditional zone changes.

Mike DeFrancesco called on Gina Thurn speak.

Gina Thurn asked two questions: (1) In regard to the 50% conserved, does that mean that 50% is conserved now and 50% is available to build?  Or, is that 50% over the lifespan of the solar? 

Scott Millar stated that the intention is 50% now.

Gina Thurn then suggested a third option to instead of changing a zone, or create an overlay that has legal issues if it’s limited to a certain property, but instead, amend the solar ordinance to add a section for disturbed properties, as well as add a section to address Schartner’s proposal for ancillary solar at the same time.  She stated that nothing is done perfectly the first time around and since the solar ordinance was drafted several things have now come up that require changes.

Bill DePasquale thinks it’s brilliant.  First it has to be qualified; the project must then meet performance standards.

Further discussion ensued. 

Chair Mike DeFrancesco stated when applicant comes in, they should be coming up with a proposal and telling us what they want.  We shouldn’t be in the business of making it work for the applicant and changing their proposals.

 Bill Haas agreed with the Chair.  He doesn’t believe that it’s the Board job to accommodate every applicant, but that they need to make their projects fit us.

Attorney John Restivo asked to speak on behalf of Revity; he stated they appreciate the feedback they have received and that is seems that there are multiple ways to proceed with this application.  He stated that one of the key things that came out of meeting with the Solicitor and Town Planner is this conditional zone change but understands more discussion is necessary.  Mr. Restivo stated that their goal is to move forward with the application but with something that the Board is supportive of, as there have been several different ideas mentioned.

Chair DeFrancesco stated that we have reviewed this thoroughly and suggested that when a more definitive application is submitted, we will review the merits of it at that time.

C.    COMP PLAN

Chair Michael DeFrancesco introduced this item and turned over to Bill DePasquale to review his discussions with the Town Council.

Bill DePasquale shared that he was invited to a pre-budget hearing to review our budget and the allocation of funds for the revision of the Comprehensive Plan.  He stated that they were very receptive to the shorter time frame of 2-years, but they see how important it is to invest in a new Comp Plan for this community.

            Scott Millar asked about the status of an RFP and procuring the services of a consultant.

            Bill DePasquale stated that he is drafting an RFP but that the time frame (whether it’s 2 years or

            1 year) will change everything.

Scott Millar asked the Town Planner if he would share the draft with the Planning Board before it’s put out to bid.

It was noted that the Financial Town meeting is on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 which happens to be the same night as the Planning Board’s work shop session. 

Chair Michael DeFrancesco asked to cancel the June 8^th work shop and suggested having the work shop along with our regular Planning Board meeting on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.

Gina Thurn raised a concern about the site visit taking place this coming weekend as we would need to post as a meeting if all the Board members would be present. 

The Chair agreed and stated that we could have to put it off until the following Saturday – May 22, 2021.

ADJOURNMENT:

Motion by Bill Haas to adjourn, seconded by Scott Millar; voted all in favor.  MOTION PASSED.   The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,  

M. Dixie Foisy

Planning Board Clerk