Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The Barrington Town Council tabled even a discussion on tax relief for "Palmer Pointe' without a formal request or application for it from the developer.
An expected confrontation over a tax abatement for the proposed affordable-housing development at Sowams Nursery was put off by the Barrington Town Council Monday night. The councilors voted unanimously to defer even a discussion on a tax abatement until a later date because there has been no official application or request for such tax relief at this time. The council followed the advice of Assistant Town Solicitor Andrew Teitz, who advised the council not to deal with the issue without a formal request for a tax abatement. Dealing with the abatement at this time could have an impact on how the councilors handle a request at a later date, he said. It could also result in a lawsuit. At the same time, a representative for the DeSisto law …
Tonight's Barrington Planning Board meeting will involve primarily a continued hearing on the proposed affordable-housing development at Sowams Nursery.
A public hearing on the master plan for the proposed affordable-housing development at Sowams Nursery in Barrington's Hampden Meadows neighborhood continues at tonight’s Planning Board meeting. The meeting starts at 7 pm in the Council Chamber in Town Hall. The continued hearing will follow one other item on the Planning Board agenda – a small subdivision proposed for Maple Avenue. It will then pick up where it left off last Thursday after about three hours of mostly technical details of the 48-unit rental development – roads, sewers, wastewater runoff and traffic – and another hour of public comment. Tonight’s session will focus on public input, said Planning Board Chairman Mike McCormick, even though there has been significant …
Friday, May 31, 2013
The Barrington Planning Board continued its series of hearings Thursday night on the proposed 'Palmer Pointe' development.
A tax abatement for the proposed Sowams affordable-housing development in Barrington is expected to be on the Town Council agenda for Monday night, June 3. That tax abatement is a missing piece of the application for “Palmer Pointe,” said Gary Morse of Barrington to the Planning Board at the continued hearing on the master plan for the 48-unit rental development Thursday night. “This application is not complete and is, therefore, deficient,” Morse said even before the hearing on technical details of the development – sewers, roadways, storm water runoff, traffic impact -- got underway in the Council Chamber in Town Hall. “Why are we having this without this? The developer has said this project would not be feasible without the tax …
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The Barrington Planning Board convenes a meeting at Sowams Nursery to take an up- close look at the site for 'Palmer Pointe' before resuming a hearing on Thursday.
The Barrington Planning Board walked the site of the proposed affordable housing development, “Palmer Pointe,” on Tuesday evening before it resumes the hearing on the preliminary plan on Thursday evening, May 30. The tour of the Sowams Nursery on Sowams Road was typical for the Planning Board when dealing with a significant development, said Mike McCormick, the chair of the board. It helps to put a face on a plan on paper, McCormick said. The board was joined by a handful of neighbors who are opposed to the 48-unit rental development proposed by the East Bay Community Development Corporation. The corporation’s attorney, Stephanie Federico, and an aide also joined the walking tour. The owners of the property, Joseph and Maria Silveria, …
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Approximately 60 people came out Monday night for the first hearing on the master plan for the proposed 'Palmer Pointe' affordable housing development in Barrington.
The first public hearing scheduled by the Planning Board on the master plan for the proposed affordable-housing project at Sowams Nursery in Barrington plowed some old ground and some new soil on Monday night in the library auditorium. Approximately 60 residents, most of them opposing the “Palmer Pointe” development, listened to Union Studio founding architect Don Powers, who has designed the complex, run through a similar presentation on the proposed project that he has made at several previous public meetings for the developer, the East Bay Community Development Corporation in Bristol. Then representatives of CODDER 02806 (Committee Opposed to Detrimental Development and for Environmental Responsibility), the citizens group that is …
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Barrington Planning Board is holding the first of two hearings on the master plan for the affordable-housing development in the Barrington library auditorium at 7 pm.
The first of two separate public hearings on the master plan of the “Palmer Pointe” affordable housing development proposed for the Sowams Nursery site in Barrington will be held tonight. The hearing will start at 7 pm in the Barrington library auditorium in anticipation of a large turnout. The Planning Board has scheduled the hearing. All abutters, in particular, should have received certified letters from the Planning Board inviting them to the hearing, according to Phil Hervey, town planner. The two hearings have been scheduled because the Planning Board believes that one will not be sufficient to handle the turnout -- especially from the citizens’ group, CODDER 02806, which has been circulating a petition against the development and …
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 …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Planning Board has scheduled public meetings on the 'master plan' for the affordable housing project for May 13 and May 30.
Two separate public hearings on the master plan of the “Palmer Pointe” affordable housing development proposed for the Sowams Nursery site in Barrington have been set up by the Planning Board. The first hearing will be held on Monday, May 13, in the library auditorium in anticipation of a large turnout. The second hearing will be held on Thursday, May 30, in the Council Chamber in Town Hall. The auditorium was not available. Both hearings will start at 7 pm. The hearings will be advertised, said Town Planner Philip Hervey. All abutters will be notified of the meetings with certified letters. Two hearings were scheduled because the Planning Board believes that one will not be sufficient to handle the anticipated turnout, especially from …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The Barrington Technical Review Committee will review the initial proposal for 'Palmer Pointe', which was filed with the Town Planner last week.
The “master plan” for the proposed "Palmer Pointe" affordable housing development at the Sowams Nursery site in Barrington gets its first official look on Thursday evening, April 4. The plan for the 48-unit development was filed with Town Planner Phil Hervey last week by the developers, East Bay Community Development Corporation. It goes before the Barrington Technical Review Committee at 7:30 pm on April 4 in the Council Chamber in Town Hall. The TRC meeting is not a public hearing, though, said Hervey. No comments from the public will be taken. “It’s the first official look at the plan,” he said. “But it is not a public hearing.” In short, do not come to the TRC meeting and expect to be heard by the seven-member advisory board to the …
Gary Morse
10:44 am on Wednesday, June 5, 2013
There are good elements to the affordable housing initiatives. For Barrington, those good ideas are to integrate affordable home ownership, where the homeowner is allowed to put in some of their own sweat equity to build equity. Then they have a stake in the community. A path for those individuals is missing in the slash and burn, industrial strength rental projects planned for Barrington. They … more ›