Schartner Farms’ Massive Tomato Greenhouse Makes Sense for Exeter
July 7, 2021
Recent comments by Megan Cotter and Olivia DeFrancesco and opinion by Frank DiGregorio on the Schartner Farms’ proposal to build a 1-million-square-foot closed facility, powered by solar energy, in Exeter, R.I., to grow tomatoes deserve a reply.
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), an automated, hydroponic system for cultivating crops in a closed setting, has less water use, less pesticide use, less fertilizer and less land use for the amount of crop grown compared to tilling the soil. What does it use more of? Capital and energy. Based on the energy use, this would be a nonstarter at our local electric rates, which therefore requires on-site generation to be viable. This explains the solar panels.
Is it a utility-scale solar system? According to the town definition based on square feet, yes, but according to the proposal, all the electricity produced would be consumed on-site. This is a big difference from the Revity project, which calls for 50 percent solar panel coverage on a parcel in a residential zone, and since there is no load on the property, 100 percent of that electricity is exported to the grid.
If you really want to preserve things like natural resources for future generations, you don’t use them. Traditional agriculture can wear land out, and uses a lot of water, fertilizer and pesticides. The 1930s Dust Bowl in the Midwest was man-made, not a natural occurrence. If we want to preserve water and farming resources for future generations, CEA looks like a good solution. The greenhouse is big, but it’s got a dirt floor. If it doesn’t work out, it wouldn’t be hard to remove it and revert to traditional farming — nowhere near the cost or effort of removing a shopping mall.
Regarding concerns that the project doesn’t fit with the the town’s comprehensive plan, this document was last updated in March 2004. Although CEA, like photovoltaics, was around when it was written, it was not included in the plan. State law requires comprehensive plan updates every 10 years, so our comp plan is also legally obsolete. It’s supposed to be a forward-looking document, not a historical artifact.
What should really happen here is that the comprehensive plan gets updated first, and then we can have intelligent discussions about whether solar and CEA projects fit, instead of guessing. As far as consideration for small farmers go, I believe the proposal as last discussed has no minimum size restrictions, so it could benefit farms large and small.
Regarding the solar-system-before-greenhouse question, that’s not “backward” — that’s best practice in construction. Whether it’s a house, building or some building complex, you want to do the infrastructure work like footings, water and power first, because you can use those improvements to complete the work, making the rest of the job easier, faster, less disturbing and less disruptive. You also try and do the work that’s furthest away from your entrance first, because it minimizes the chances passing vehicles and equipment will damage what you’ve already finished.
From the plans I see on the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management website, the panels are further away from the entrance than the greenhouse, so this approach makes sense.
As for impact on the tax base, this is a situation where it will pay to be careful what you wish for. Will it result in a dramatic expansion of the tax base for the town? Probably not. But it will expand some, because business inventory is taxed in Exeter. It will also result in more state tax revenue — provided the business is generating income.
On the subject of real-estate taxes, I expect most of the Schartner property is properly taxed as farmland. But consider where things are going. It takes farm revenue to pay those farmland taxes, and it’s been years since the Schartner farm stand has seen customers. Unless something changes, sooner or later the money runs out, and then the land will revert to vacant — which has an even lower rate, lowering the town tax base — or it will get sold in line with the “highest and best use” taxing principle, which these days means high-density affordable housing.
Just last month the Planning Board approved a 40-unit project for a property a little further south on Route 2. Given the Schartner acreage, the ultimate count would more likely be in the hundreds of units.
Cotter says the project does not need to be on prime farmland and could be established in an industrial zone elsewhere thanks to its enclosed CEA architecture. Yes, that’s true — and so could the Revity project — but consider this land has been farmed by the Schartners for at least four generations. It’s good business sense to make the most of the assets you have. It’s understandable why they would prefer to do this on the land they already own, rather than pick up stakes and move elsewhere. In addition, because land is so expensive, purchase of “industrial” land elsewhere would involve the sale of this land, and conversion by any buyer to what Exeter considers that “highest and best use” — residential housing.
“Rural” is based on population density. If Cotter really wants to preserve and promote Exeter’s rural atmosphere, she should be supporting this project, rather than criticizing it.
Regarding DiGregorio’s opinion, the Schartners do pay property taxes. A quick look at the assessor’s database shows the lot in question carries an assessed value of $970,000. It looks like it’s enrolled in the state Farm, Forest and Open Space program. If Frank doesn’t think they pay enough in taxes, the right place to take that up is with the state, not the town.
Economics 101 says that “if you want more of something, subsidize it, if you want less of something, tax it.” Frank’s talking out of both sides of his mouth when he says he supports farms but wants higher taxes on them. If you want higher taxes on them, what you’re really saying is that you want less farms, not more. If you want less farms, you’ll wind up with more residential housing, which is exactly what has happened on the North Kingstown side of Route 2, right across the street from Schartners.
Controlled environment agriculture has been around for decades, same for solar systems. If the comprehensive plan had been updated properly, as required by state law, it would already anticipate the potential uses of CEA and solar.
As for DiGregorio’s opinion on fire safety, he’s wrong on this, too. A temporary structure is something that’s not permanently attached to the ground. If it can be unbolted and moved, it’s not a permanent structure. Sure it’s big, but it’s still a greenhouse. Thermodynamics may not be a study topic for architects, but it is for engineers, and as far as safety is concerned, I would expect this structure would be safer than most, at least when it comes to fires. Glass, metal, concrete and water don’t burn. Growing plants aren’t flammable unless they’re exposed to high heat for extended periods, long enough to dry out. Dried husks might be flammable, but I don’t expect they’ll be kept inside because they’ll take up too much space, and outside I expect they’ll be part of a composting program. This structure is going to be far safer than the typical residential home.
As for displacing fertile agricultural soils, that isn’t Frank’s decision. That decision belongs to the Schartners.
Asa Davis has been a resident of Exeter, R.I., since 1973. He owns 100-plus acres in town and has proposed building a 30-acre ground-mounted solar facility.
Sure you want us to accept " keep destroying". not me.
When there will be just cement glass steel and nowhere for animals to go will be too late
Should have been built on the ugly industrial lots RI is replenished with. Is the Shartners decision sure but also of the company has a say in it. It is a bad evolution for south county no worse or better than the horrible destruction on ten rod road just down the road from Shartners farm: the devastation of forest land is horrible to watch and for what? Trees are irreplaceable, bees, water, animal ecosystems are irreplaceable: THAT is the rural character of So County not house condos or visitors from MY NJ etc or this industrial agriculture.
"but according to the proposal, all the electricity produced would be consumed on-site."
That is not true according to the proposal or common sense.
Per RI Grows:
"Due to the nature of the CEAS operation, onsite power generation is a necessity for a variety of reasons, including power demands as well as financial and infrastructure costs. The power generated on the site will be utilized on the site directly by the greenhouse or will be used to offset the costs of infrastructure and energy demands of the CEAS facilities."
They will be selling the power to the grid.
The CEAS facility cannot stand on its own. The CEAS is a prop, a trojan horse to enable the siting of an utility scale power generation site.
R.Schartner’s proposal is a perfect project for the Quonset-Davisville Industrial Park (QDIP), NOT for prime ag land in Exeter for several reasons.
Note that the QDIP has on-site access to great multi-modal transportation (trucks, rail, sea); water and wastewater; the ability to grow horizontally and vertically; and really great opportunities to anchor a model eco-industrial park with "waste to energy" projects using ag waste. (In addition, sophisticated wastewater treatment is an essential part of this project given fertilizer and pesticide use, and nutrient rich wastewater that could threaten fresh ground and surface water supplies.)
Prime ag land is supposed to be protected from non-conforming uses in the State Guide Plan, and in Exeter’s Comp Plan. The footprint of this proposed development and the significant trucking associated with it, are NOT consistent with protecting prime ag land. Further, the development of impervious surface, and the water and wastewater demands related to this industrial-scale project are not consistent with protecting the Queen River aquifer or "rural quality of life".
The Schartner family has benefited from lower property taxes for many years due to the Farm, Forest and Open Space Act. Converting this land to an industrial (agricultural) use with significant IM-pervious surface should result in loss of land use-related tax benefits and, in fact, should impose a significant tax increase on this land considering additional demands on local roads, and risks to water and air quality related to development, operation and transportation associated with this project.
The RIDEM and other promoters of this project should partner with Schartner for another Tradable Development Project to steer this industrial-scale gamble to the QDIP.
As the owner of two small greenhouses, I grow and eat fresh produce almost year-round here in Rhode Island. In one of my greenhouses I grow lemons, limes, many oriental herbs and vegetables. I also write about greenhouse gardening for local and English web sites, so I have a pretty good idea what greenhouse gardening is about, even though I do it on a strictly amateur level.
Controlled Environment Agriculture or Growing is the way of the future. Without it, the planet will starve. Look at the example of Holland, huge amounts of land are given over to greenhouses and CEA. For example, in a climate about as cold as RI, the Dutch produce 3.5 billion Euros worth of vegetables (The Euro is about $0.93) per year and employ around 56,000 people. That number goes up to 114,000 at peak periods (dutchhorticulture.nl). They grow and export 7.2 billion euros of flowers and bulbs. (You probably have Dutch grown bulbs in your garden!) The Dutch horticulture industry leads the way in developing CO2 capture and control, developing new green energy sources, and producing new jobs.
Shartner’s can cut greenhouse emissions simply by growing produce locally. Imagine fresh tomatoes and lettuce grown in Exeter and sent to every supermarket in RI, MA and CT. No longer will fresh produce have to be transported from CA to RI. That alone will reduce emissions significantly. The fact that Shartner’s is willing to invest in solar to reduce emissions is a big plus.
Another factor is that CEA reduces water usage. Nutrients are added to water and recirculated. In general, it takes far less water to grow a head of lettuce using CEA than growing in the ground. Also, there is less spraying for insects, less loss to animals (deer, rabbits, groundhogs). In fact, many huge greenhouses have their own bee colonies to pollinate their tomato plants. Many other huge greenhouses use bio-controls to keep insects at bay without resorting to pesticides.
I suggest that Shartner’s CEA greenhouse is a hugely important development for Rhode Island, bringing jobs, fresh produce grown locally, less pollution and more income to the state. It should be just one part of Rhode Island’s move toward self-sufficiency and clean energy.