Housing Board Finds Some Faults With 'Palmer Pointe' Affordable Project

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:

• Incomes of prospective tenants for the 48 rental units are not mixed enough to create a more diverse profile for the development.

• The project should be developed so that it appeals to senior citizens.

• The “density” of the development should be examined closely to make sure it abides by all applicable guidelines for that part of town.

• The “quad” units in the center of the project create too much roofline.

• There should be more “public access” to the development.

• Consider reducing the number of parking spaces to eliminate more asphalt paving.

Steve Martin, chairman of the Housing Board of Trustees, weighed in first on the proposed development. It’s income profile, he said, “jumped out at me the most.” 

“It’s like the developer picked up Sweetbriar and moved it across town,” Martin said, referring to the income range it is being proposed for by East Bay Economic Development Corporation, which built and operates the Sweetbriar affordable housing complex in Bay Spring. 

Trustee Richard Staples agreed that the incomes should be more diverse. He suggested a profile that would attract Barrington seniors to the development, in particular.

“From a housing point of view,” Martin stressed, “this is an extremely valuable piece of property. It’s really the last undeveloped site in Barrington. Is there a better way to serve future needs?"

Staples also brought up the density of the project.

“Density is a bit of an issue,” he said, particularly since it does not sit near shops and the East Bay Bike Path and other amenities like Sweetbriar does. “The context of the development needs to be looked at. In many ways, Sweetbriar was a better fit." 

Molly Lee, another trustee, raised the issue of public access to avoid segregating the development from the neighborhood. 

“There should be more public access,” she said. “It’s not there now. We need to make it clearly public.” 

Trustee Steve Boyajian said there is too much parking, although maybe not for the number of units.

“But that raises the issue of maybe there are too many units,” he said.

Criticism from representatives of CODDER 02806 involved primarily the process of reviewing the master plan, which appears to be based on “hypotheticals,” said Bill Lemoult, a spokesman for the group.

Martin said the master plan for the project is far more than hypotheticals; it is a starting point that spells out clearly the final look and feel of the proposed development.

The recommendations made by the housing board are expected to be part of the mix of comment and feedback on Palmer Pointe, he said. They could be ignored, but at least the Planning Board will have the housing board’s recommendations.