BARRINGTON -- The town's plan to add hundreds of affordable-housing units over a 20-year period has finally won state approval, setting the stage for future steps such as creating a housing trust to evaluate where some units could go, and zoning ordinance proposals that would carry out affordable-housing strategies.
The approval, rendered last month, makes Barrington the second-to-last Rhode Island community to receive the state's sign-off, according to Paul Gonsalves, senior planner with the Office of Statewide Planning. Dozens of other communities' state-mandated housing plans for people of low and moderate incomes were approved before an earlier state deadline, but Barrington and a few other towns received extensions to resolve lingering concerns state officials had with their plans. As of yesterday, Foster was the only town still waiting for state approval, Gonsalves said.
Barrington Town Council president Jeffrey Brenner announced the state's approval at last night's council meeting.
"We on the council are very glad that it's been approved," he said, adding: "I think it's a tremendous achievement for the town."
The plan lays out several strategies that, taken together, are supposed to reach the state-mandated goal that each community have at least 10 percent affordable housing. Crunching the current numbers, that means adding 519 units in Barrington. Currently, 1.55 percent of housing in town is meets the state's criteria for "affordable housing."
Nancy Letendre, the assistant solicitor who has been the town's liaison to state officials, and Daylor Consulting, which drew up the housing plan, yesterday described the changes that met state approval as largely modifications to language. She also said changes were made to be sure that calculations for housing generated through each strategy added up to the total units the town is supposed to reach.
"Basically, what we are going to be attempting to do in the next year is to build up some information in a land-use database for the community, and using that information," she said. That may focus on a couple strategies in the town's plan: identifying existing "substandard" lots that do not meet size dimensions normally associated with developing them but that could hold affordable housing; and determining "areas where multifamily housing would be appropriate," she said.
Letendre emphasized that, with regard to putting the strategies into practice, "nothing is going to happen right away."
With the town budget process looming, she added, one task will be to figure out what it would cost to get the land-use information. "And if all goes well," she said, "come July, we will issue a request for proposals" seeking a consultant to do that study.
Changes to zoning ordinances require public input, Letendre said, and, in theory, people could turn down a proposal. However, she added, in that event the town would have to submit a replacement strategy for state approval because Barrington would still have to meet the total of new units to reach 10 percent affordable housing.
Among strategies in the town's plan are:
Creating a housing trust fund that could accept money from fees, taxes and loan repayments, as well as from the town pursuing donations from local businesses, proceeds from property sales or other mechanisms.
Establishing a Barrington Housing Trust "charged with exploring affordable housing alternatives" for the town's families and elderly residents.
Forging alliances with banks, lenders and nonprofit agencies to offer programs such as down-payment assistance, affordable mortgages, second-mortgage programs and other alternatives. "Often, efforts to expand homeownership involve collaboration between local governments, lenders and nonprofit organizations and include homebuyer education," according to the strategy in the town's plan.
Starting a tax credit program "associated with the rehabilitation of affordable units," according to the strategy, that would give an incentive to "develop blighted properties, rehabilitate failing commercial structures" and other initiatives.
Adopting an ordinance that would require all new developments of 3 or more units to have at least 20 percent of the units affordable to people who make 80 percent or less of the area's median income.
Allowing apartments above commercial buildings, through a zoning ordinance; and, allowing more accessory apartments, including above a garage and through the conversion/creation of barns, garages or other outbuildings.
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