The gateway to Chestertown is about to be permanently impacted. On July 11, Kent County’s Planning Commission will be asked to approve the site plan for Morgnec Road Solar. It is imperative that this governing body be informed about the importance of installing landscaping that will enhance the critical entrance to Chestertown on Route 291 hiding a visually intrusive industrial solar plant blanketing 245 acres of rolling farmland with over 140,000 solar panels. Please read further, and plan to attend the hearing at 1:30 p.m. at the county’s hearing room at 400 High Street. The Planning Commission will meet on July 11 at 1:30 p.m. to determine the severity of the scar that will be inflicted on this historic landscape.
The first landscaping plan proposed by Urban Grid for Morgnec Road Solar, before obtaining their Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC), was in 2017. The initial plan featured attractive recreational additions for residents; 4.12 miles of trails, some offering views of Morgnec Creek, along with proposed meadows, a nature playground with two pavilions, and a boardwalk for kayak access to the creek.
The PSC exercised their authority to preempt Kent County’s zoning ordinance and ignored Chestertown’s designation of the property as a growth area for the town. Despite objections from Kent County, Chestertown, and Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance, Morgnec Solar was approved.
At each juncture in the process Urban Grid has whittled away the landscaping for the project. Today, Urban Grid’s revised current site plan eliminates all public amenities, offering only a one-mile-long barrier of trees broken by entrances exposing the energy generation plant at these visual breach points. Furthermore, the proposed tree screen is not a ‘fail-safe’ option. It takes a tree many years to attain the size needed to be effective and a weather calamity can remove the screen barrier in mere minutes. With the increase in extreme weather events, this poses a serious concern regarding the proposed design.
Given the experiences of both Kent and Queen Anne’s counties with similar solar projects, the effectiveness of this landscaping in shielding views of the energy generation plant over the next 5, 10, or 20 years remains speculative. There is little doubt that this project will mar the rural landscape, part of Chestertown’s greenbelt, for the foreseeable future compounded by the developers’ reluctance to install an irrigation system.
Furthermore, there has not been a professional line-of-sight graphic prepared to address the 65-foot elevation change on the northwest portion of the property. This ridge is conspicuous when approaching Chestertown on Route 291. Would row upon row of solar collectors be seen blanketing the hill from the road?
While Kent County’s influence over hosting the project was preempted, one crucial condition imposed by the PSC mandates a site plan approval from the Kent County Planning Commission, and acquisition of all necessary local permits before construction commences. This condition empowers the Planning Commission to enforce the county’s screening provision for solar projects in the Land Use Ordinance (LUO).
The impact of Morgnec Road Solar on Kent County will be both significant and enduring. Gail Owings, Executive Director of Eastern Shore Heritage Area, emphasized in a letter to the PSC that the project site is situated “in one of the most significant cultural landscapes in the Heritage Area and serves as a gateway to the Town of Chestertown.” Now is the time, as concerned citizens, we must impress upon the Planning Commission the importance of requiring the strictest landscaping standards to limit the negative impacts. This is our last opportunity to protect this landscape and preserve the gateway into Historic Chestertown.
We must demand better than what Urban Grid is currently offering.
KCPA has worked with Tom Kocubinski, AIA, Architect and Planner, to create a schematic landscape design that is both resilient and complementary to the historic context. Instead of a predictable, monotonous, and vulnerable tree barrier which provides minimal return for the loss of the historic landscape, he has proposed an effective alternative using earthen berms. The LUO favors berms for screening.
The design relies on an interlocking composition of berms to provide an indestructible barrier that can withstand weather calamities. It creates a human scale with visual interest for both walkers and drivers alike while paying homage to the quintessential “rollies” found throughout Kent County.
According to Tom, “When we assessed the real concerns and purpose of a screening device within the site context, we looked for a creative option and the nestled berm solution emerged effortlessly.”
The result is an organic and playful composition juxtaposed against the long linear roadway and natural landscape. “It is a sinuous greenbelt that complements the context. It provides an interesting walking experience offering a variety of vistas on a level and gently sloped pathway with seating areas. It is the polar opposite of Urban Grid’s one-mile-long visual dog run. Combined with a modest parking area and intended to connect to the proposed public amenities of the original plan, it gives residents another walking destination with a nature experience. A pleasant community amenity making the best of a very unfortunate development,” he added.
The rolling berms and pedestrian amenities design option would enhance the visual experience leading to Historic Chestertown gateway.
A recent ruling by the Kent County Appeals Board gave conditional approval to Pivot Solar for a 5-acre community solar array, Mason Solar, at the gateway to Fairlee directly opposite the Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church, a listed historic African American church. Conditions were attached to that approval. One of the conditions was a requirement for 5-foot earthen berms to screen the project. The precedent has been set.
It falls within the purview of the Planning Commission to enforce the landscaping standard that calls for berms. We encourage everyone to attend the hearing on Morgnec Solar Site Plan Approval to voice opposition to the developer’s unimaginative rote landscape plan and support an inspired alternative berm plan like the one we are proposing.
Janet Christensen-Lewis
Chair, Board of Directors
Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance (KCPA)
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