Hundreds of neighbors from the Moss Bluff, Birdnest and Topsy area attended the Calcasieu Parish Planning and Zoning Board’s Tuesday meeting. With not enough room to seat them all, some stood outside. Some watched online to see how the board would vote on the application for an exception to allow an industrial development – a solar energy facility – on about 4,000 acres of property owned by American Sulphur and Oil Company. The solar panels would have been been situated on about half of the property, according to Forest Forester of Aypa Power, a utility-scale renewable energy development company

The matter first came before the board in August, and staff recommended approval because the developer had met or exceeded standards carefully crafted by the parish last year.

Chair Julia Dickerson, a landowner, talked about the lengthy information gathering process leading to the final vote when the meeting was over.

“You listen to the community and you listen to the applicant. We talked to people on the phone and we received emails. Basically, we sifted through the facts to ensure the best decision was made,” she said.

Some board members never made a decision. Kirk Smith, Carl Vincent and Genelle Hyatt abstained. LaSalle Williams Sr., Lucinda Cobb and Jake Porche voted “yes.” Keith Dubrock, Sharon Galicia and DeAnne Winey voted “no.” The chair broke the tie with a “no” vote, a win for those in opposition to the project.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the board listened to Scott Helms speak on behalf of American Sulphur and Oil about the millions of dollars the Robert Noland family has donated to McNeese over the years, as well as to area hospitals, schools, churches and more.

He said the company was proud to support a development that neighbors would not see or smell that exceeds parish standards, and named different ways the land could be used instead of such things as duplexes, modular and manufactured homes, oil and gas transfer stations and solid waste sites.

“Property rights are a fundamental freedom,” he concluded.

The opposition did agree on that point.

“The intent of the opposition is not anti-solar, it’s anti-placement,” Tommy Buckner said. “The project, without a doubt, is an industrial energy production facility, and it belongs in an industrial area. It does not belong in a rural community.”

Seventeen hundred people signed a petition opposing the solar farm. Some of those names were people who had property or family members in the area.

Buckner cited a Louisiana State University Center for Energy Studies report that contradicted the AYPA developer’s study from a North Carolina land appraiser and the assurances of a local expert from Lafayette that a solar farm would not diminish home values.

The LSU study was requested by Louisiana legislators to compile their own laws governing solar energy developments, and it was found that in rural areas, homes were reduced in value upwards of 5.8 percent.

State Rep. Brett Geymann was at the meeting. He is chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Department of Energy and Natural Resources and Wildlife and Fisheries. He is authoring new rules that will govern solar farms, the group that requested the study of how solar farms impact property values. He said the state’s plan could include compensation for nearby landowners.

Buckner also argued the scale of the project, an area roughly the size of Westlake, outweighs its economic benefits when compared to jobs and energy provided.

“I’ve been working hard my entire life to create a living for my family and to construct a home that my family has dreamed of,” Buckner concluded. “I own a little over eight acres on Topsy Road and completed the construction of my home in an area that was rural. This is, no doubt, a gut punch to think that after completing this a year and half ago, I could potentially be facing diminished value.”

Tommy Cryer reminded the board that after it deferred its last vote, it asked Aypa to engage with the public to address its concerns. A meeting was held with opposition leaders who outlined their concerns and follow up was expected. A community wide meeting was expected. Instead, leaders received a text directing them to the website, which was information already presented without updates or changes based on feedback.

“In the meantime, our small group attended a joint committee community-wide meeting in Baton Rouge where several folks testified before the Department of Energy and Natural Resources committees about the impact of solar development on residential development and agricultural lands.”

Cryer said that following the hearing, the departments sent out letters to parishes urging them to delay approval of any new projects until after new rules have been enacted.

“We, the citizens of Moss Bluff, believe we are entitled to the same protections that our fellow Louisiananians will enjoy in just a few months,” Cryer said. “No other industry leaves as big a footprint, destroys this much wildlife habitat and creates so few permanent jobs. You can’t bring an industrial project into our neighborhoods after we’ve provided proof that it reduces the value of our homes and then say it won’t change the character of the area.”