Housing Appeals Board to Meet Again on Nockum Hill Condos

The State Housing Appeals Board picks up on Friday afternoon, Dec. 13, the appeal of the developer whose application for building a condominium complex on Nockum Hill in Barrington was rejected by the Planning Board in August of 2012.

The hearing starts at 2 pm in the Department of Administration building at One Capitol Hill in conference room A on the second floor.

North End Holdings of Wakefield, RI, proposed building the 24-unit condominium development, named “The Residences at the Preserve,” on a former horse paddock off of George Street near the Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge. Eight of the units would have been designated as affordable housing.

The Planning Board rejected by a 6-0 vote the application after a long public hearing. North End Holdings filed the appeal in October of 2012. 

SHAB then began the appeals process last May and continued wity the hearing on the appeal last September. Christine Darocha, the Rhode Island Housing administrator for SHAB, said that she does not expect the appeals board to make a final decision on Friday. 

DaRocha said she expects the board members to make a decision at another continuation of the hearing sometime early next year. 

The Planning Board’s denial was based on “a determination that the proposal’s density, design and location conflict with multiple goals, policies and strategies of the Affordable Housing Plan and the Comprehensive Community Plan, and raise concerns about its potential impact on the environment and health and safety.”

The proposals also has faced stiff opposition from the Barrington Preservation Society, which believes the location owned by North End Holdings on Nockum Hill, has historic value as the site of the first Baptist Church founded in North America. A large stone on George Street within footsteps of the development’s site indicates that the church was built on Nockum Hill, although the exact location is still a bit of an unknown. 

Here is the agenda for Friday’s SHAB meeting:

STATE HOUSING APPEALS BOARD

44 Washington Street

Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Friday, December 13, 2013 

2:00 p.m.

Department of Administration

One Capitol Hill

2nd Floor, Conference Room A 

Providence, Rhode Island

Agenda 

1.            Call to Order

2.            Attendance

3.            Update from SHAB’s legal counsel regarding status of docket

4.            Approval of 9/18/13 meeting minutes

5.            North End Holdings Company, LLC v. Town of Barrington ("The Residences at the Preserve"), SHAB Appeal No. 2012-01

a.            Oral argument by counsel for parties, including questioning by SHAB membership and counsel

b.            SHAB’s public deliberations, findings and deliberations applying standards in RIGL 45-53-6

c.            SHAB’s votes regarding its findings and conclusions and all other votes necessary to render a decision in the appeal

6.            Adjournment