Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The development on the corner of Anoka and Wood avenues in Barrington includes a mix of business space and apartments, including one for affordable housing.
The corner of Anoka and Wood avenues in Barrington is taking on a far different look. The two 2,900-square-foot L-shaped buildings that will house businesses on the first floor and two-bedroom apartments on the second floor are taking shape. And you can begin to see the entrance to the development off of Anoka Avenue. There will be 24 off-street parking spaces between and behind the buildings and four on-street parking spaces on Anoka and Wood avenues. The mixed-use project is the first development in Barrington subject to a variety of recently approved zoning regulations,such as the need for bicycle racks set up in relation to the number of parking spaces. It also must include sidewalks. One of the apartments must be affordable housing.
Monday, January 14, 2013
If it's 'not in my back yard', why have 517 Barrington residents signed a petition to oppose the Palmer Pointe affordable housing development?
There is an inclination, in some quarters, to label with the pejorative acronym NIMBY (not in my back yard) all resistance to undesirable projects touted as a public necessity. It’s catchy. And it has been used in conjunction with the 48-unit apartment rental complex being proposed by the East Bay Community Development Corporation (EBCDC) on approximately 7 acres of buildable land at the Sowams Nursery located on the Palmer River -- an area currently zoned R25, i.e. no more than two residential units per acre (R10 zoning means no more than 4 units per acre). But the NIMBY label begs the question: Why have 517 Barrington residents (almost all living in the Hampden Meadows community) signed a petition in opposition to the plan? In fact…
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Barrington Town Council will raise the issue of making changes to the state mandate at Wednesday's tri-town meeting with Warren and Bristol in town hall.
Did a revolt against Rhode Island’s affordable-housing law start in Barrington Monday night, Dec. 17? The Town Council decided to raise the issue at a joint meeting with the Warren and Bristol town councils on Wednesday evening, Dec. 19, in Barrington Town Hall. “It makes sense to find out how Warren and Bristol feel about this,” said Mike Ursillo, Barrington’s solicitor. “Then you can decide the next step.” Town Councilor Bill DeWitt could go down as the first revolutionary. He brought up the idea of pushing back against legislation that was a bit of an election campaign issue in Barrington. “I’d like to see some push back,” he said. “The 10 percent mandate is completely arbitrary. And what we’re getting may not be what we need.” “Let’s …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The developer of the 48-unit rental project, East Bay Community Development Corporation, holds a public meeting on Tuesday night before starting the application process.
Barrington’s need for more affordable housing under the state's 10 percent mandate is driving the proposal for Palmer Pointe – the 48-unit rental development targeting the Sowams Nursery site. “We’re responding to the town’s need,” said Frank Spinella, a development consultant to East Bay Community Development Corporation, the developer, at the first public presentation of the plan on Tuesday night, Nov. 27. And building rental units, not affordable homes for sale, is the only way for EBCDC to get the federal money from Rhode Island Housing it needs to create the development, Spinella said. At the same time, he said, to make the entire project feasible, EBCDC needs the Town Council’s support of taxing the project at 8 percent of its …
Monday, November 26, 2012
The East Bay Community Development Corporation is holding an 'informational meeting' tomorrow night, Nov. 27, in the Barrington library to present the affordable housing development before going before town officials.
An “informational meeting” on the proposed Palmer Pointe affordable-housing development in Barrington will be held tomorrow evening, Nov. 27. It starts at 7:30 pm in the auditorium of the Barrington Public Library. Representatives from East Bay Community Development Corporation, the engineer and the architect will make a presentation, show a rendering and take questions on the already controversial development planned for the Sowams Nursery site, said Frank Spinella of FJS Associates, a consultant to EBCDC. “We’re hoping for a positive exchange that will make everyone more informed,” said Spinella. “We always try to be good neighbors.” All of the abutters within 500 feet of the development were sent an invitation, said Spinella. “It will …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Take a look at a Hummel Report on affordable housing in Barrington.
Barrington's own Jim Hummel takes a look at affordable housing in today's Hummel Report. And he focuses, where else, on his hometown. Read and hear what affordable-housing critic Gary Morse of Barrington and Barrington Town Council President June Speakman, a longtime advocate, have to say about the mandate that every town in Rhode Island must develop at least 10 percent of its housing stock as affordable. Barrington officials have no choice but to work to achieve the mandate, says Speakman, and the town has moved aggressively to do it. But Morse thinks many Barrington property owners are being forced to subsidize other property owners who might actually have more means at their disposal to pay taxes than they do given the subsidies they …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The developer of the proposed Palmer Pointe Neighborhood decides to schedule a public meeting with neighbors first before going to the Barrington Planning Board.
The developers of the proposed affordable-housing complex at Sowams Nursery in Barrington have cancelled the special pre-application meeting with the Planning Board and Technical Review Committee that was scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 27. Barrington Town Planner Phil Hervey said the East Bay Community Development Corporation asked that the meeting on Palmer Pointe Neighborhood be rescheduled after it meets with the neighbors first before going in front of the town boards. The Sept. 24 letter to Hervey from attorney Stephanie Federico of Anthony DeSisto Law Associates reads, in part: “It is the intention of the applicant to hold a public informational meeting first in order to obtain input from the community on the project. Once this has …
Thursday, September 20, 2012
All three Republican Town Council candidates sit in on Tuesday night's meeting of the Barrington Housing Board of Trustees, charged with overseeing affordable housing projects.
Will affordable housing in Barrington become a significant election issue this year? “All of the Republican candidates for Town Council were there,” said Steve Martin, chairman of the Housing Board of Trustees, after the board’s most recent meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 18. “I think they just wanted to get up to speed,” said Martin of Donald Nessing, Margaret Kane and Shirley Applegate-Lockridge. “They asked a bunch of questions.” The Housing Board is charged with keeping an eye on all housing projects in Barrington that involve affordable units. At this time, that’s just about all of them. “We have no formal authority,” said Martin, “but we relay our concerns to Seth Milman, the liaison from the Planning Board.” The board did raise some …
Monday, September 17, 2012
The affordable-housing development proposed for the Sowams Nursery property in Barrington includes 50 housing units in a complex named Palmer Pointe Neighborhood.
A new version of the affordable-housing development proposed for the Sowams Nursery site on Sowams Road will be presented to the Barrington Planning Board at a special meeting on Sept. 27. The development is now named Palmer Pointe Neighborhood, according to a story in the Barrington Times. But the proposed development still includes 50 houses spread over 9.15 acres at 91 and 97 Sowams Road. East Bay Community Development Corporation in Bristol is the developer. EBCDC is the same organization that operates the much-opposed Sweetbriar affordable-housing development off of Washington Road in Barrington. Indeed, a petition opposing the development has been circulating in the Hampden Meadows neighborhood, according to a separate story in the …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Bluemead Farm would have nine single-family homes, including two affordable houses, off of Chachapacasset Road in the Rumstick area of Barrington.
- PATCH'S HOUSE & HOME
- William Rupp
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Wednesday, September 5, 2012
A nine-lot subdivision of single-family homes, including two affordable houses, goes before the Barrington Planning Board for the first time tonight, Sept. 5. Members of the Planning Board did walk the site off of Chachapacasset Road last week, said Town Planner Phil Hervey. The site borders a small pond off of Beach Road. The subdivision, Bluemead Farm, is located on 13.6 acres of mostly vacant land. It is being proposed by the Blumead Family L.P., of 211 Rumstick Road, Barrington. The land is covered by trees and brush and holds only two small horse barns right now, according to plans drawn up by David D. Gardner & Associates of Warwick. Eight of the homes will be built off of a new 623 foot-long road, Bluemead Lane, that will start at …
41.72433
-71.30711
Chachapacasset Rd & Beach Rd, Barrington, RI
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Lorraine F
12:36 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Let's hope the Planning Board makes clear that approval for this project should be made on condition that the town council votes on the property tax breaks before EBCDC breaks ground. EBCDC did not demonstrate financial responsibility when they put up Sweetbriar first, then asked the town council for the property tax breaks after the project was done. more ›