Three years after portions of its gargantuan, 25-acre metal skeleton first rose over a local farm field, construction of the Schartner greenhouse project has yet to resume as the company confronts several local requirements, town officials say.
The town zoning inspector last year lifted the cease-and-desist order he imposed after farmer Tim Schartner and his partners in Rhode Island Grows LLC moved ahead with the project off Route 2 without local zoning and planning approval.
They had argued in court, unsuccessfully, that despite its mall-size footprint, the structure fit the definition of a greenhouse, allowing them certain agricultural exemptions from zoning review.
The lifted cease-and-desist order came with conditions: Construction could not resume until the project met town planning and zoning requirements, and one major stipulation is that the three parcels of land it sits on must merge under one ownership.
That has yet to happen, as that land consolidation is now in probate court.
Read more at providencejournal.com