Portsmouth’s Green Animals hopes lighting display will be big draw
Zoners’ approval of special-use permits also allows topiary garden to host private events
PORTSMOUTH — The Green Animals topiary garden at the foot of Corys Lane is one of the most unique properties owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County, an attorney representing the nonprofit cultural organization told the Zoning Board of Review on May 21.
“It’s also one of the most underutilized,” added the attorney, William Landry.
The Society is hoping to change all that by putting Green Animals “back on the map” in terms of being a destination location for both islanders and tourists. A 2015 town ordinance that allows special events at agricultural venues through a special-use permitting process is paving the way.
After a two-hour hearing during the board’s first virtual meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Society got its wish. The board voted unanimously to grant the organization two special-use permits: one to operate a “fall lantern program” that will utilize special lighting displays installed at the topiary garden from late October to early January; the other to allow up to 16 corporate and private events, such as weddings, from May to early October.
“In the view of the Preservation Society, Green Animals is a truly wonderful gem that has yet to be discovered, even though it’s been around for more than 100 years,” said Judy Cox, the Society’s executive director. Allowing the lighting display and special events will introduce many people to the wonders of the property, she said.
According to Mr. Landry, the fall nighttime lantern program “would blend arts and nature” by using stationary lighting displays that would complement the topiary figures with “uniquely and softly lit animal and plant figures.”
“The arrays are crafted uniquely and changed yearly. Their effects are designed to be entirely focused on the immediate area of the array itself, emitting neither light or sound beyond the property itself,” Mr. Landry said.
Bob Montgomery of Canada, a managing partner of AllParks Solutions which has operated similar displays all over the world, testified that porcelain, glass and stretched silk are used to create three-dimensional figures. After each run, the installations are removed with no impact on the property. “Everything is taken away and we recycle the metal,” he said.
AllParks has installed these displays at botanical gardens, historical attractions, public lands and other sites, he said. The company has done about 40 events annually in Santiago, Chile; Dublin. Ireland; and Paris, France, he said.
“We associate Christmas with lights, so the period of time we’re talking about and what we’re working with will be very successful,” Mr. Montgomery said.
Lights are ‘muted’
The lantern display would run from 4-9 p.m. — each group of visitors should take about an hour to go through the exhibition — and both the lighting and quiet background music would have minimal impact on the surrounding area, he said.
“While this is very much a light festival, the lights are enclosed within the structure itself, which has a muting effect," said Mr. Montgomery, adding the strongest light is about 1,200 lumens, similar to a 75-watt lightbulb, and that it’s masked by a skin of silk, glass or porcelain, which covers the structure.
“There really isn’t any of that exposed brightness of the lights,” he said. “It’s probably more accurate to think of this as an art exhibition.”
The two major abutters to Green Animals, Portsmouth Abbey School and St. Philomena School, are supporting the endeavor and will even provide space for parking. St. Philomena has 200 spaces available and any overflow would be at the Abbey, Mr Landry said.
However, he assured the board that ticket sales will be controlled, with an “outside limit” of about 307 tickets sold per session, per night.
“Even on the busiest night … we’re expecting only about 85 cars for any one session,” he said. “This is not a walk-up event. We would decide how many tickets would be sold.” In any event, there would be fewer people moving through the property than there are during the day at the two schools, he said.
Board Vice Chairman John Borden, noting there are residential abutters on Corys Lane, asked whether “307 people per hour” would disrupt that area. Paul Bannon of BETA Group, testifying for the Society as a traffic expert, said no.
“Under 100 vehicles an hour is well under capacity conditions,” said Mr. Bannon, who also testified that emergency vehicles would not be hindered.
Ms. Cox said there will be Society attendants and private security on site for all lantern events. “We give more than 1 million tours a year. The one thing we’re really good at is handling crowds of people,” she said.
John Rodman, director of museum experience for the Society, told the board the displays will not only increase people’s awareness of Green Animals, but attract more of them to local businesses.
“It will benefit people who operate Fieldstones, 15 Point Road Food Parks, Publick House, an so forth. It will help build traffic for a lot of activities in Portsmouth,” said Mr. Rodman, adding that the displays would be free to Portsmouth residents on certain nights.
Special events
As for the second application sought on May 21, Mr. Landry said no more than 16 private and corporate events would run from May to early October at Green Animals. He proposed a 5-10 p.m. timeframe for weddings, and 4-10 p.m. for other special events.
“These events would be tented and their impacts completely limited to the property itself,” he said.
The wedding tent, which would accommodate 150 people maximum, would be located on the south side of the property, near St. Philomena, he said. A separate tent for caterers would hold about 30 people, he said.
There will be amplified music at the weddings, but the noise level would comply with the town’s noise ordinance, Ms. Cox said. All caterers would be TIP-certified to serve alcohol, she said.
When asked whether alcoholic beverages would be served at the lantern displays, Ms. Cox replied, “We haven’t gotten that far.”
No one spoke against either proposal, and one resident voiced her approval.
“I think it would be great for Portsmouth. The economic value is great for the town and local restaurants will benefit, if they’re open,” said Mil Kinsella, who lives on Narragansett Boulevard.
Both petitions passed 5-0, with Vice Chairman John Borden, Benjamin Furriel, Sue Horwitz, Kathleen Pavlakis and Eric Raposa all voting in the affirmative.
“I think this is going to be a very exciting venture for both the Preservation Society and the Town of Portsmouth,” Mr. Borden said.
The approval included several conditions the Society must follow: The lantern displays are limited from 4-9 p.m., October to January. No more than 16 weddings or special events are permitted from 4-10 p.m., May to October, with each event limited to 150 people. The petition will no longer be valid if St. Philomena or Portsmouth Abbey schools decide they no longer wish to offer parking for the events.
Two members of the zoning board — Chairman James Nott and second alternate William Wladyka — recused themselves from the vote, citing conflicts of interest.
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Keywords
Green Animals, Preservation Society of Newport County
