How Outlier views civic participation
Civic participation is not limited only to voting. We believe civic participation takes many forms, from attending block club meetings, volunteering, being active at school or church, or going to public meetings. We hope to amplify community members’ voices in discussions about policy, democracy and civic life in Detroit.
See our answers to frequently asked questions regarding how we make editorial decisions about democracy coverage in Detroit.
The city unveiled a solar farms initiative in June, and it has been met by both enthusiasm and skepticism.
Some Detroit residents told Outlier they felt underinformed about the initiative. Others are skeptical about the rollout, the city’s intentions in buying up all the land, and the incentives being offered to residents willing to move away from the solar farms, even as the locations have yet to be finalized.
We pulled together facts on where the initiative stands and sat down with city officials, advocates and residents to talk more in depth about the future of the city’s solar energy program.
What we know
In June, Mayor Mike Duggan announced a plan to power all 127 municipal buildings in Detroit with solar energy. Duggan said the plan was designed to convert a total of 250 acres of vacant land in some of Detroit’s “most blighted neighborhoods” into solar farms that could provide renewable energy for the city. It is also hoping to be able to take advantage of federal tax incentives for cities that use more renewable energy.
The Office of Sustainability is in charge of selecting sites and implementing the initiative, and the Department of Neighborhoods is taking charge of community engagement. The city is requiring the initiative’s solar arrays to be on city-owned land, and it has sought out spaces with at least 20 contiguous acres of vacant land. The power generated by these solar farms won’t provide electricity to homes or businesses in the neighborhood, but instead to city-owned buildings designed for public use.
Just how the economics of the initiative will work is still up in the air. “There are multiple financial models” the city could use, Office of Sustainability Director Jack Akinlosotu said in an email. These models include a direct ownership or build-transfer agreement, in which the city owns and funds each solar farm; a solar power purchase or services agreement; or what Akinlosotu called a “lease purchase” arrangement, in which the city will receive lease payments or a share of energy sales revenue.
In November, nine neighborhoods were chosen from 27 that applied as potential host sites for the solar fields. Planet Detroit reported at the time that the neighborhoods are: Gratiot/Findlay, Greenfield Park/I-75 McNichols, Grixdale, Houston Whittier/Hayes, I-96/Plymouth (O’Shea), Mount Olivet, State Fair, Trinity Pickford and Van Dyke/Lynch. The nine finalist neighborhoods have until Jan. 31 to show community support. The city intends to choose six neighborhoods as hosts for the solar farms.
Tepfirah Rushdan, director of urban agriculture, said the city “is asking roughly 56 homeowners and an unknown number of landowners to relocate, and compensating them to do so.” The city is also offering to purchase the properties of owners who choose to relocate at double the market rate or for a minimum payout of $90,000. Akinlosotu said the city has already made firm offers to some property owners so they can decide what they want to do. The city is also proposing benefits for the 700 neighbors surrounding the solar farms in the form of energy efficiency and appliance upgrades worth between $10,000 and $25,000 for each home in the footprint.
‘Better than blight,’ but plenty of unanswered questions
Outlier spoke to residents about the city’s solar farms initiative. Reactions ranged from apathetic to excited. No one was adamantly against it. Those who are excited are eager to see the potential but still have questions.
For Tharmond Ligon, president of Rescue MI Nature Now — a partner involved in the initiative — the battle to fight the dumping on vacant and city-owned land in his neighborhood just north of Grixdale Park is his main motivation for getting involved. His organization has been battling blight, cleaning up lots, planting trees and providing environmental and ecological education to the community since 2019. When asked why he supports the proposed solar farms, Ligon said “it’s better than blight.”
What really excites Ligon are the possibilities to grow crops and allow grazing underneath the solar panels, and to add native plants and pollinator habitats to the solar farms. But he notes design elements for the solar farms haven’t yet been discussed.
Solar development consultant Aubrey Agee is excited about the potential for more community benefits. He said many of the homes near the developments are in no condition to receive energy upgrades. He’s skeptical about that benefit, but is excited about the potential to employ people from the neighborhoods in solar installation and maintenance.
District 2 resident John Gruchala and Riverbend resident jon kent aren’t against solar energy either. Like Agee, Gruchala and kent are concerned that the benefits won’t do much to provide power, prevent outages or otherwise provide meaningful upgrades to residents’ homes. kent owns Sanctuary Farms in the Riverbend neighborhood, and once he found out his farm would be impacted, he worked to opt his neighborhood out of the running for one of the proposed solar farms.
Akinlosotu said that what the solar farms will look like and all the logistics of installation have yet to be decided. Bigger questions like how the initiative will be funded and how long it will take the city to see the full benefit from their solar power are also unresolved.
Akinlosotu said the city will get answers to all kinds of questions about the design, layout, structure, look and feel of the farms from the developers who submit proposals for locally-sited, utility-scale solar photovoltaic systems by Feb. 15. Residents won’t have the answers to their questions before they’re asked to opt in or out of the initiative by the end of January.
What you can do now
Communities have until Jan. 31 to show support or opposition for the solar farms initiative. Akinlosotu said you can express that opinion in the community meetings currently taking place in the neighborhoods of the finalists.
For residents that missed a meeting or still have concerns, kent recommends doing what he did: contact your city councilmember or district manager. If you and your neighbors don’t want a solar farm near you contact the Department of Neighborhoods.
Tepfirah Rushdan said all affected residents should get involved. “This is something that can definitely change the face of your community, and you should definitely have a voice.”
According to Akinlosotu, “Final approval of the sites, contracts, and any land acquisition will rest with Detroit City Council,” which is expected to consider the proposal in April.
Detroit Documenter Alex Klaus contributed to this story.
Correction: This story was updated to correct the name of jon kent. kent’s name is spelled with only lowercase letters.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
