A large landowner and a solar farm developer are both appealing to the 23rd Judicial District Court to overturn the St. James Parish Council’s rejection of a 2,200-acre solar project on residential and agricultural land.
The Ten-R Co. and SJ Louisiana Solar Inc. filed separate petitions with the 23rd District to overturn the parish’s rejection of the 360-megawatt energy-generating project, which supporters say would have supported the operation of industries in the parish as well as Entergy Louisiana.
“The action of the Parish Council is unreasonable, as it ignores the project’s benefits not only to the local community, but to Entergy Louisiana in supporting the sustainability goals of industrial customers already operating in the region,” the petition filed by Ten-R Co. states. “SJ Louisiana Solar LLC would contribute to the economic development of the region, in addition to generating jobs for the local community through an environmentally safe facility.”
The application for the solar farm indicates that while the project would create about 400 construction jobs, only four permanent jobs would result from the actual operation of the solar farm.
“The St. James Parish Council acted arbitrarily, capriciously and abused its discretion in adopting the Planning Commissioner’s recommendation and in voting to reject the solar project altogether for numerous reasons …” the Ten-R Co. petition says.
Victor Franckiewicz Jr., a St. James Parish planning attorney, said one of the major concerns among speakers at the project’s public hearings and Planning Commissioner members was the resulting loss of sugarcane acreage in the parish.
“Throughout that process, the loss of sugarcane and potential impacts on the local sugarcane industry was a big, big concern.” Franckiewicz told the Louisiana Record, adding that sugarcane is refined as well as grown in the parish.
St. James Parish doesn’t have a zoning regime per se but instead has a land-use ordinance that includes commercial, industrial, residential and agricultural designations, he said.
“Solar farms generally fit in the industrial category,” Franckiewicz said. “Where the solar farm was proposed was in an area designated for residential and agriculture.”
The fact that the land-use designation of the site was not in sync with an industrial use led to the project having to clear hurdles it otherwise would not have dealt with, he said.
The two petitions were filed July 17 in the 23rd Judicial District Court.
The SJ Louisiana Solar petition urges the court to “render judgment for (the) petitioner, reversing the decision of the St. James Parish Council and vacating the Parish Council’s previous decision on the application, upon a finding that the council’s adverse decision was arbitrary and capricious and/or unsupported and/or an irrational abuse of power.”
The petition also stressed that the project would be beneficial by delivering electricity to Entergy Louisiana customers.
“The solar farm project is necessary to meet important regional electricity needs,” the SJ Louisiana Solar petition states. “Notably in 2021, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved and concluded that the project, then proposed as 300 MW, ‘serves the public convenience and necessity … and is prudent’.”
The project, which was to be located west of State Highway 20, would generate about $141.3 million in local sales and property taxes over its lifetime while producing no air or water emissions, according to the petition.