Is Barrington's Handling of Affordable Housing Fair?

Gary Morse of Westwood Lane, perhaps more visible than anyone in Barrington on the issue of affordable housing, says he is not opposed to those developments – just the way they are handled here.

“Some affordable housing initiatives make sense… I do believe in a properly managed affordable housing regime,” Morse said. “But that’s not what’s happening here.”

Morse made that comment in a story in the Barrington Times on the issue.

Morse is particularly critical of the use of tax abatements given out in the past, such as for the Sweetbriar development that pays 8 percent of the annual rent charged to renters at the West Barrington complex operated by East Bay Community Development Corporation (EBCDC). 

EBCDC is the same nonprofit that proposes to build the 48-unit Palmer Pointe affordable housing rental development at the Sowams Nursery that is opposed by the citizens group, CODDER 2806.

Barrington does not have to give out a tax abatement to follow state law, Morse said. The town only has to have an approved comprehensive plan and include inclusionary zoning ordinances. To give out a tax abatement forces Barrington property owners to subsidize the people living in Sweetbriar, he said. 

Other Barrington residents also have questioned the "fairness" of subsidizing affordable housing developments to help make them happen.

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