Westport planners approve solar array off Drift Road

By Kristen Ray
Posted 12/6/18

The meetings were long, the debates passionate. For months, the fate of the 18.1 acres of land located just off Drift Road remained in question as community members pushed back on …

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Westport planners approve solar array off Drift Road

Posted

The meetings were long, the debates passionate. For months, the fate of the 18.1 acres of land located just off Drift Road remained in question as community members pushed back on applicant CVE North America’s proposal to transform the site into a 13.9 megawatt solar energy system.

Their fight finally ended on Wednesday, Nov. 28,when the Planning Board voted to approve CVE’s plan.

“We have taken responsibility to vote on something that is, in recognition of the town’s bylaws, better for the town than not,” said member James Watterson.

After the board sent CVE away with yet another list of requested revisions following their meeting on Nov. 13, the renewable energy company returned last Wednesday with an updated set of project plans.

Meredith Savage, a senior wetland specialist for SWCA Environmental Consultants, outlined some of the major changes, including the relocation of the access road to now be 30 feet away from abutting property owned by Al and Penny Hadfield.

Larry Rusiecki, a civil engineer with Doucet and Associates, meanwhile, discussed in detail the redesign of their stormwater management plan and how it now would redirect water away via a pipe from the detention pond located near the Hadfields’ property line in the east and instead discharge it to a basin in the south.

Those changes, Ms. Savage hoped, finally address the inconsistencies derived from a lack of communication between SWCA and Doucet and Associates that contributed to previous plans failing before the board—an issue noted by member Robert Daylor after the last meeting.

“It was a conversation that didn’t happen between the two platforms,” Ms. Savage admitted.

Although their updates did in fact appear to generally suffice with the board, residents were less than impressed. Ms. Hadfield feared how construction will impact neighboring properties, while her representative and fellow community member Michael Kelly expressed his doubts about the project’s contribution to flooding from Tootell Way and its overall impact on Pierce Brook. Resident Sky Wild, meanwhile, wasn’t convinced that Route 88 wouldn’t become “a killing field” from the displacement of wildlife, and Walter Barnes wasn;t convinced about the solar energy system’s impact on climate change.

While there was plenty of argument over the potential negative aspects of solar during the entire series of hearings, board member David Cole took a moment last Wednesday to advocate for the benefits renewable energy can bring. In a study he conducted roughly five years ago, Mr. Cole found that solar panels are actually 14 times more effective than trees in achieving carbon reduction. He used those findings to encourage community members to think beyond this project and consider the environment on a much broader scale.

“You can worry about the neighbors and the town, but I think it’s also appropriate to worry about the world,” he said.

While relatively new board member Mr. Watterson acknowledged that the proposal was not a “fully positive thing,” for Westport, he felt the obligation to abide by the town’s existing bylaws.

“We’ve done everything possible we can do within those constraints,” he said.

With Mr. Daylor absent from the meeting, the remaining four board members voted unanimously in favor of CVE’s proposal, subject to the findings and conditions.

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