Westport hears solar proposal for old gravel pit

WESTPORT – A Rhode Island company is proposing to construct a 6.4-megawatt solar energy farm off Old County Road on the 36.7-acre site of the former Westport Stone & Sand gravel pit.

Energy Development Partners of Providence, Rhode Island, presented the details of the proposed redevelopment of the closed sand and gravel removal and processing operation at 536 Old County Road at a public hearing hosted by the Planning Board Jan. 15.

Ben Aparo, project manager for Energy Development Partners, said the large-scale solar array would cover about 14 of the 15.6 acres in the cleared center of the property, owned by the Steven A. Cardi Grandvel Nominee Trust.

Plans provided by the company showed rows of 11-foot-high solar panels densely packed in neat rows and enclosed by fencing. A 100-foot no-cut buffer zone surrounding the installed photovoltaic panels would screen the site from neighboring properties and the road, Aparo said.

Two small ponds on the property, surrounded by wetlands, would be left undisturbed by the proposed construction, or used to collect surface water runoff from the array site, Woodward & Curran consulting engineer Allen Benevides told the Planning Board.

“What we’re proposing meets all of the current zoning criteria, and also the proposed changes in that bylaw, too,” the engineer said.

After several months of reviewing some potential scope-limiting amendments to the large-scale solar array bylaw, the Planning Board recently sent the proposed changes to selectmen for a review by town counsel.

The possible changes in the bylaw to be considered at the spring annual town meeting were suggested by board members concerned about the growing number of solar farms dotting up all over town, on agricultural land and near residential neighborhoods. The changes include increased buffer zones, limits to clear-cutting trees, and other minor changes in regulations aimed at slowing the number of solar farms being built in Westport.

The Old County Road site to be utilized by Energy Development Partners has been operating as a sand and gravel business for years, but is located within an agricultural-residential zoning district. Part of the site lies within an aquifer protection zone.

“We’ve got a good vegetated buffer around this entire parcel,” and neighbors shouldn’t be able to see any of the panels or transformers placed on site, Benevides told the board. No noise and little traffic should be generated by the operation, he said.

Benevides also suggested that loaming and seeding the site, now stripped of most of its vegetation, “will substantially reduce the runoff,” leaving the site after substantial rainfalls. The pond at the southwestern corner of the property would help corral any excess runoff and disperse it into the adjoining wetlands, he indicated.

A landscape architect will be hired to “spruce up” the entrance to the property, where an existing garage will be painted and continue to be used by the landowner. A locked access gate will help keep the public away from the array site, the engineer said.

Planning Board Chair Jim Whitin questioned the existence of volatile organic compounds and petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil near the garage, and wanted some assurances that the nearby pond has not also been contaminated. Company representatives said no contaminants have been found in the standing water there, but were unsure why the water is green in color.

Member James Watterson said he would like to see a photo survey of the site perimeter to make sure that the proposed buffer zone would completely screen the solar array installation from neighbors, and the applicant agreed to do so.

Aparo said that company representatives recently met with abutters to the site, and reported no clearly stated objections to the proposed redevelopment.

“It’s going to be about as hidden a solar array as anywhere” in town, he told board members, expressing a willingness to revisit the no-cut buffer zone proposed with an eye toward expanding it if needed.

In other business at the Jan. 15 meeting, the Planning Board set a cash surety requirement of $40,650 to cover the costs of remaining work on Riverside Woods, a four-lot subdivision on Caroline Way. The road drainage system is substantially installed, but will not be completed until warm weather returns in spring.

The board also revoked the inclusionary housing special permit previously voted for phase two of Bentley Estates, off Bentley Lane and Highland Road. The inclusionary housing bylaw does not apply to the 20-lot subdivision because the three parcels of land involved are under separate ownership, Town Planner James Hartnett reported.

The board voted to release three lots for construction, but also set a $135,000 cash surety requirement to ensure that the road work is completed in the spring.