Commercial Development Gets Nod

A mixed-use commercial development on two lots at the corner of Anoka Avenue and Wood Avenue got the go-ahead from the Barrington Planning Board Tuesday evening, July 10.

The vote in favor of “10 Anoka” was 7-1 with the only nay vote coming from Ann Strong.

The development will include two 2,900-square-feet L-shaped two-story buildings with 24 off-street parking spaces between and behind the buildings and four on-street parking spaces on Anoka and Wood avenues, according to Paul Carlson of InSite Engineering of Seekonk, Mass., the site developer.

The development is being built by Knit One Quilt Too LLC, which is owned by Yvonne Weiss, of 23 Nayatt Road, Barrington.

Commercial space will be leased on the first floor. Two two-bedroom apartments – one for affordable housing -- will be rented on the second floors of each building. The entrance to the development will be off of Anoka Avenue.

Strong’s nay vote was cast in part because, she said, “I see an awful lot of asphalt.”

John Davis, of Anoka Avenue, was the only neighbor to outright oppose the development.

“I’m coming late to this,” he said, which looks like a done deal.

But, he said, the board seems about to approve more commercial space, encroaching on a residential area, when there are vacant buildings all over Barrington, including in the shopping center and Maple Avenue.

“I’m stumped,” he said. “Why?”

Town Planner Phil Hervey had prepared a motion for approval that was modified with several conditions, including the need for at least one affordable housing unit in the development.

Hervey said previously that 10 Anoka “is exactly the type of project Barrington is trying to promote.”

The project is the first development subject to a variety of recently approved zoning regulations, he said, including the need for bicycle racks set up in relation to the number of parking spaces. It also must include sidewalks.

The site is being cleared of most existing trees, said Carlson. But a "planting plan" for the site will include the planting of 12 to 15 new trees on the site.

The board did object to a 26-inch maple tree being cut down for a driveway. It urged Carlson to trade the driveway for the tree.