One of the few remaining privately held large open tracts in Cowesett, the 94-acre Little Rhody Beagle Club, could be spared from major development with 20 acres preserved as open space and portions of the remaining acreage becoming a solar farm.

Last month at a neighborhood meeting, ISM Solar of East Providence outlined its proposal for a five-megawatt solar farm. The Little Rhody Beagle Club would lease the land, which are open fields. Simultaneously, the city is moving ahead with its application to the Department of Environmental Management for a $350,000 matching grant to preserve 20 acres of the club property that has been listed for sale for more than a decade.

Plans for the solar array have not been submitted to the Planning Department, although Joseph K. Shekarchi, attorney for ISM, anticipates that will happen in the near future.

Shekarchi said development of the land for a solar farm would not increase traffic on local roads and put no pressure on municipal services – especially schools for a period of at least 20 years and possibly as much as 30, depending on lease option renewals.

According to a letter from the Little Rhody Beagle Club, the solar array would be built primarily in the northwestern field along the north side of the club driveway.

“We have selected this area because most of the land is already fenced, cleared, and is generally hidden from view,” it reads.

The Little Rhody Beagle Club, founded about 70 years ago, has been in the sights of developers for the last decade with the most recent flurry of activity in 2014, when DeFelice Realtors listed 20 acres for sale for $1.4 million. According to zoning, excluding the 20 acres that had been subdivided in 2006 and was approved for 36 units off Blue Ridge Road, 24 houses could be built on the property. That total could increase to 36 to 40 houses with sewers.

Peter Izzi, realtor with Home Smart, said Monday that the 20 acres is “no longer actively listed” and that the Beagle Club is “exploring options.” The option being explored by the city is acquisition of the property for $700,000, with half that amount coming from a Department of Environmental Management open space grant that the city is applying for this month.

According to a synopsis of the neighborhood meeting, attended by 13 area residents and prepared by the planning department, concerns centered on possible residential development of the 20 acres and the visibility of the solar array. Solar panels stand eight feet above the ground. So as to illustrate that, ISM affixed balloons at eight-foot elevations on the property.

Questioned whether there would be adequate screening during the winter months, Shekarchi and Greg Lucini of ISM said they would be willing to consider additional screening according to planners. Other questions related to the potential expansion of the array, environmental risks, transmission of the power produced, noise of inverters and whether ISM had built other Rhode Island projects.

ISM said the array could not be expanded, existing utility poles would be used for transmission and that traffic noise from nearby Route 95 would be greater than that of the inverters. The company has built other solar projects in the state. Environmental risks were ruled out.

City Planner William DePasquale said Monday, “it is a good thing they’re not taking down trees,” Other positives to a solar use on the property, he said, are that “it keeps the club going forward on an established use of the land” while not increasing traffic on Cowesett Road, which would be the case if developed for housing.

At the meeting, Bill Forward, president of the Beagle Club, explained the club feels leasing a portion of the property for the solar array enables the club to keep the property and maintain its activities while paying taxes and remaining solvent.

As explained to the Beacon 11 years ago when the property was listed, club members use the fields with low shrubs for their beagles to track rabbits. The objective is for the dog to pick up the scent and lead the handler to the rabbit. At that point, the dog is judged on its performance and the rabbit remains free.

Although no longer a part of Ward 9, Councilman Steve Merolla was highly supportive of preservation of the 20 acres.

“Hopefully, we can purchase a big chunk of that land,” Merolla said of the Beagle club.

As for the solar array, Merolla said, “the problem is that solar farms are not well known and people don’t know their impact.” He raised the same issues – visibility and noise – brought up at the meeting, adding that he thinks “a process of education” would be beneficial.

Ward 8 Councilman Joseph Gallucci hasn’t seen plans but said from talks with residents, “I don’t see an issue from what I’ve heard.”

Lucini of ISM, said Monday in an email that assuming city approvals, he would hope the solar array would be operational by next fall. He estimated the cost of the development at $8 million.