CRANSTON, R.I. — After years of fighting a commercial-scale solar field proposed next to their homes, residents thought that City Hall had their back when the Plan Commission and Platting Board rejected the developer’s application last year.
Then, a state Superior Court judge reversed that ruling in late August, and the residents heard nothing from the most important voice in City Hall: Republican Mayor Kenneth Hopkins.
Now, the mayor’s decision not to appeal — leaving the neighbors to petition the Supreme Court on their own — has become an issue in the Nov. 5 mayoral election.
Hopkins’s Democratic opponent and the residents blame the mayor’s inaction on his relationship with the developer’s lawyer, Robert D. Murray, who is also Hopkins’s campaign manager, personal lawyer, political donor, and close friend.
“I truly believe that the mayor is being influenced by his campaign manager, because he’s representing the developer. I truly believe that it’s a conflict of interest,’’ said real estate agent Carol Cooney. She and her husband have lived in Cranston for 41 years, and their home is less than a mile from the site.
Citywide Councilman Robert Ferri, the Democrat running for mayor, accused Hopkins of having a “huge conflict of interest’’ and “serious lack of judgment.’’
“The mayor is abandoning [the residents]. He’s abandoning the plan commission,’’ Ferri said. “And his lawyer is Bob Murray, his campaign manager is Bob Murray, and the developer’s lawyer is Bob Murray.’’
Hopkins dismissed the criticism as politically motivated. He said he’d let the court process take place, and his advisers convinced him the Superior Court judge had made the right decision.
“Bob Murray, who’s an attorney defending Natick Solar, is also a great friend of mine, but to think that has any influence on my decision is ridiculous,’’ Hopkins said. “Any decision that I make is what’s in the best interest of the city of Cranston. It’s got nothing to do with me and my relationship with Bob Murray.’’
Hopkins said the city has spent $71,000 on legal fees to defend the plan commission. Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti and City Solicitor Christopher Millea said the residents’ petition to the Supreme Court will likely fail, so the city’s involvement would be a “waste of money.’’
“It has zero to do with the mayor’s relationship with Bob Murray,’’ Millea said.
But lawyer Patrick J. Dougherty, who was hired by the neighborhood group to fight the solar project, said it was “unconscionable’’ Hopkins wasn’t defending the city’s own boards. He filed a petition on Sept. 30 on behalf of the residents, asking the Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision.
“The mayor is dodging the issue, and he’s being disloyal to his commission,’’ said Dougherty.
Western Cranston, the last rural area in the city, is already home to two commercial-scale solar projects: Hope Farm Solar on Hope Road and Gold Meadow Farms on Lippitt Avenue.
The project, Natick Solar, involves clear-cutting almost 30 acres of forest, ripping up narrow residential Natick Avenue, blasting near a high-pressure gas line, and constructing an 8.1 megawatt commercial-scale facility with large utility poles near homes and historic farms.
“If you go to Lippitt and Hope Road, it’s disgusting. Those were all farmland,’’ said resident Alida Arbige. “It’s not that we don’t want [a solar field] in our backyard — it’s why are they putting this in a residential area?’’
The city’s Plan Commission and the Zoning Board of Review, sitting as the Platting Board, approved the project in 2019, but the neighborhood group appealed to Superior Court. Judge Netti C. Vogel found the commission unlawfully accepted evidence without public comment and sent it back.
When the project came up again last year, the city boards rejected it, citing concerns about the impact on the neighborhood and the environment. The developer appealed. Superior Court Judge Joseph Montalbano decided that solar power was a by-right use in that zoning district, and he ordered the commission to accept the master plan.
Throughout, Murray has represented the developer, Revity Energy LLC of Warwick, and the landowner leasing the property.
Murray has been an influential political figure in Rhode Island for decades. Since 2002, according to state Board of Elections records, Murray has donated about $38,000 to state and local politicians, including $6,050 to Hopkins and $7,500 to former Cranston mayor Allan Fung, who struck the net-metering agreement for Natick Solar.
Murray was on Hopkins’s transition team in 2020 and helped screen department heads and administrators. He often represents clients before city commissions but told the Globe he hasn’t advised the mayor about Natick Solar.
“I try not to blur the lines between my work with the mayor and the client,’’ he said.
On Oct. 1, the Plan Commission voted unanimously to accept Revity’s master plan application, saying its hands were tied because of the Superior Court decision.
Murray watched the vote from the front row as about 30 residents sat in the back, holding signs that read: “Abandoned by Mayor Hopkins.’’
Cooney was teary. “They will rip apart this rural neighborhood with a solar farm, where it has no place,’’ she said later. “It doesn’t belong on this beautiful, winding, rock-walled, Norman Rockwell place of living.’’
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com.
