CODDER Update: Final Weeks!

The Barrington Planning Board has set a date of August 22nd for a final decision on whether to allow the EBCDC project application for the $14.5mm corporate-owned housing development on Sowams Nursery to proceed to proposal to the Town Council. 

This kind of project requires many different Town Boards and Committees to align. The above date has resulted in an accelerated series of meetings CODDER will be attending with our new Counsel, Bill Harsch (see this announcement). In addition to last night's Town Council meeting, two more meetings are coming this week, with tonight's being critical:

• Special Planning Board Meeting- July 16th at 7pm School Committee Room in Town Hall (agenda)

• Planning Board to hear expert testimony lead by our Counsel, Bill Harsch 

• Purpose: "hearing applications for Dimensional Variances, Use variances or Special Use Permit" 

Separately, we recently saw this Providence Journal article, from the President of the Charlestown Town Council which highlights challenges they've experienced recently with regards to their own Low to Moderate Income (LMIH)-related housing projects. Notably, their attempts to proactively address the needs of both low-to-moderate and elderly housing have been complicated by a variety of unforeseen factors at various government and private levels. 

This serves as a good cautionary tale as Barrington continues to try and balance the State mechanisms that allow developers to push potentially ill-fitting development proposals with a Town Council and Boards needs to oversee their own destiny with regards to how the town evolves.