Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The Barrington Housing Board of Trustees weighs in on the affordable housing project proposed for the Sowams Nursery site in Hampden Meadows.
Barrington’s Housing Board of Trustees found fault Tuesday evening with about half a dozen aspects of the master plan for the proposed affordable housing development on the Sowams Nursery site. The trustees will forward those faults as recommendations for the Planning Board to consider as the “Palmer Pointe” development moves through the review process over the next few months. The housing board also fended off a bit of criticism from several representatives of CODDER 02806, the citizens group that opposes a development at that location between Sowams Road in the Hampden Meadows neighborhood and the Palmer River. The housing board’s recommendations will involve the following aspects of the plan: Steve Martin, chairman of the Housing Board…
Monday, April 22, 2013
Barrington's Housing Board of Trustees to discuss master plan for the affordable housing project.
Barrington’s Housing Board of Trustees will weigh in on the master plan for the controversial Palmer Pointe affordable-housing development on Tuesday evening, April 23. The board will meet at 7 pm in the Barrington Senior Center. A large turnout is anticipated for the monthly meeting, which is usually held in a small library meeting room. A previous meeting by the developer with the housing board drew several hundred people to the Council Chamber in Town Hall. The proposed project was still a concept at that time, not a formal development. The trustees also will hear an update on the Bluemeade Farm development proposed for Chachapacassett Road. It includes two affordable housing units. And the trustees will go over the request for …
Friday, March 1, 2013
COD 02806 offers in a letter to the editor some history on the Sowams Nursery site proposed for a Barrington affordable housing development; the citizens group opposes the development.
On January 11, 2006 the Barrington Planning Board denied an application for a Major Subdivision consisting of 8 privately owned residences (“Osprey Landing”) on the Sowams Nursery property on Sowams road. This is the same property on which the East Bay Community Development Corporation (EBCDC) seeks to construct 48 units of low and moderate income rental housing. In their decision denying the “Osprey Landing” application, the Board (none of whose members are on the present Planning Board) included the following rationale for their denial: The current edition of the Barrington Comprehensive Community Plan (BCCP) dated December 5, 2011 is rife with references protecting the character*, special qualities and ecology of existing …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A joint meeting of three Barrington boards and dozens of residents gather in the library for a 'pre-application conference' on controversial 'Palmer Pointe'.
A rather unusual “pre-application conference” for the proposed Palmer Pointe affordable housing complex in Barrington took place Tuesday night in the library. It took place even though Andrew Teitz, assistant solicitor for Barrington, said several times that the 48-unit development “can’t be treated any different” than any other project. The project planned for the former Sowams Nursing site was presented at a joint meeting of three boards, the Planning Board, the Technical Review Committee and the Housing Board of Trustees, and in front of 50 to 60 residents in that neighborhood. Everyone was allowed to ask questions of representatives of the developer, the East Bay Community Development Corporation, which operates the Sweetbriar …
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…
Representatives of the developer of the Sowams Nursery affordable housing project to meet in a 'pre-application' conference with three Barrington boards and residents who already oppose it.
The developers of the proposed Palmer Pointe affordable housing complex at the Sowams Nursery site in Barrington will continue to test the waters Tuesday evening, Jan. 15, in a rather atypical venue. Representatives of the East Bay Community Development Corporation will meet with the Planning Board, the Technical Review Committee and the Housing Board of Trustees in the library gallery room. It starts at 7 pm. This session – known as a “pre-application conference” – also is expected to draw scores of residents opposed to the housing development, particularly a group that calls itself COD 02806 – Community Opposed to Development. Residents will be allowed to ask questions, said Town Planner Philip Hervey. A pre-application conference …
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 …
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
East Bay Community Development Corporation is hosting a pubic session specifically for the neighbors of the proposed Palmer Pointe development on Sowams Road in Barrington.
An “informational meeting” on the proposed Palmer Pointe affordable-housing development on Sowams Road in Barrington will be held next Tuesday evening, Nov. 27. The meeting starts at 7:30 pm in the Barrington library auditorium. Representatives of the developer – East Bay Community Development Corporation – will join with the engineer and the architect to explain the already controversial development and to field questions, said Frank Spinella of FJS Associates, a consultant to EBCDC. “All of the abutters within 500 feet of the development are receiving an invitation to attend,” said Spinella. “It will be an informal neighborhood meeting, not something that is required.” “We’re hoping that people show up with an open mind,” Spinella said…
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Barrington Housing Board of Trustees turns its monthly meeting into a public forum on affordable housing in this community.
An affordable-housing development may never be approved for the Sowams Nursery property off of Sowams Road in Barrington – a plan has not been submitted yet despite a preliminary proposal aired by the East Bay Community Development Corporation several weeks ago. But the possibility of this 56-unit rental development served as a catalyst Tuesday night for a wide-ranging and sometimes rambling discussion of affordable housing in Barrington and the town’s Comprehensive Plan and Affordable Housing Production Plan. Affordable housing was the focus of a public forum held by the Barrington Housing Board of Trustees in the Council Chamber in Town Hall. It was set up to answer questions from prospective neighbors of the Sowams development and other…
K
1:38 am on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The town should make a wonderful park out of this area. There could be an ice skating rink in the winter and an indoor/ outdoor tennis courts. There could be a ball field. This is why we moved to Barrington. Let's all state the obvious: Low income individuals bring increase crime and problems to a great town. We don't want that here!!!! If the selectman don't change their opinions fast, then they… more ›