Politics & Government
Is Town's Handling of Affordable Housing, Especially Tax Breaks, Fair?
Town's handling of affordable housing sparks a spirited give-and-take at the Barrington Town Council meeting on Monday, July 1.
Barrington’s handling of affordable housing sparked a sometimes contentious give-and-take at the Town Council meeting Monday night, July 1.
For the most part, the give-and-take took place between Town Council President and Vice President June Speakman and Kate Weymouth, respectively, and Westwood Lane resident Gary Morse, a frequent critic of tax abatements for affordable housing developers.
But it also drew in several other audience members and town councilors in the School Committee Room in Town Hall.
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The debate over affordable housing was sparked by several letters from Morse to the Town Council that questioned the legality of the recent application for the proposed Palmer Pointe development at the Sowams Nursery, and whether the councilors have the authority to grant a tax abatement to the developer, East Bay Community Development Corporation.
At the very least, he said, the town should seek out a second legal opinion on the legality and constitutionality of the town’s actions from an independent attorney with no interest in either the town’s or developer’s positions.
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Morse said he believes strongly that the application is fraudulent because it already indicates it will be getting a tax abatement from Barrington even though the application has not been submitted yet.
Speakman said it is a “common practice” for a developer to include this type of information in the application. And Town Solicitor Mike Ursillo, when asked by Speakman for his legal opinion on the application, said: “I don’t think they made a fraudulent claim.”
Stephanie Federico, an attorney with the DeSisto Law Firm who represents EBCDC, said the developer will definitely request a tax abatement. It has not done that yet because they are still going through the process of determining the development’s viability before seeking the tax break.
That approach would seem to be putting the cart before the horse, said Morse, and it has put the Planning Board in a position of assessing the development as if it is already a viable project financially without the abatement.
Morse also questioned whether the Town Council has the authority to set tax rates for affordable housing developments. Is it legal to set discounted tax rates on behalf of a certain segment of the population that is not different from their neighbors? he asked.
Both Speakman and Weymouth countered that Barrington has been and is bound by state mandates and laws and the development of comprehensive community plans that address affordable housing.
“Developers take advantage of comprehensive plans,” Morse said.
“You need to get the state law changed if you feel that way,” she said. “We should not be fighting each other.”
Town Councilors Ann Strong and Bill DeWitt seemed to support Morse’s suggestion that Barrington seek an independent counsel to look at the town’s process for handling affordable housing.
“I would encourage another legal opinion,” Strong said. “I would feel much better with a second opinion.”
“I don’t feel we’re getting clarity on these issues,” said DeWitt. “I don’t think I have all the information I need to make a decision.”
“What do want to know?” Speakman said before the councilors voted 3-2 to not seek an independent opinion.
Town Councilor Cynthia Coyne questioned the actual application form used by the developer for Palmer Pointe.
“Is there a problem with the form and the way it reads?” she said.
Richmond Avenue resident Joel Hellmann, a member of the Committee on Appropriations, took about 60 seconds to make the point that giving tax abatements is a “fairness issue” for every taxpayer.
Sometimes it’s "necessary to say no," Hellmann said to a round of applause from the audience, which had been sitting in silence for the most part as the give-and- take on affordable housing took place.
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