BARRINGTON -- Large Victorian homes that hold apartments? But where in town? And what will be the standards for allowing them?
For resident Jeff Black, a read of the town's affordable housing plan for the next 15 years inspired more questions than answers.
Black and his wife, Janice, recently got a consent judgment in court that compelled Barrington officials to comply with the state Open Records and Open Meetings laws.
They also recently learned that amendments to the affordable housing plan are coming before the public and town officials on Monday. Unlike the Open Meetings Law, which involved reluctance by town officials to furnish some information to the Blacks about their increased property assessment, the town has been putting out public information about the state-required plan to provide more low- and moderate-income housing. Legal notices have been advertised in the local paper. The plan, adopted in December, has been on the town Web site and copies are at Town Hall.
On Monday, the Town Council and Planning Board will hold a joint meeting at 7:30 p.m. that deals only with proposed amendments to the affordable housing plan. Public comment is encouraged, Town Manager Peter DeAngelis said. The goal for the council and board is to approve the amendments that night.
Rhode Island's cities and towns were required to come up with plans for reaching the goal of having 10 percent of housing in each community deemed affordable. Just 1.55 percent of Barrington's housing is affordable, and so the plan lays out several strategies for meeting the goal. State officials look at local plans, then sent back proposed changes.
For Barrington, the state has asked the town to make amendments to clarify the process involved as the town moves forward with a range of strategies for adding affordable housing.
Among the strategies are:
Creating a senior housing overlay district to encourage the development of senior housing, so long as 20 percent of the units are affordable.
Encouraging apartments above commercial offices or stores, provided that 20 percent of such units are affordable.
Encouraging developers to create a mix of housing, such as two-family townhouses and small apartments, by allowing special-use permits in all residential zones, so long as 20 percent of each development is affordable.
Widening the use of accessory apartments through an updated zoning ordinance, which would allow for housing units that could be separate from a main house or be located on the second floor above a garage.
Letting the town housing trust buy smaller homes, rental units or cottages that are less expensive and create a program to develop low- and moderate-income housing with deed restrictions.
Black noted a section of the affordable housing plan that he believes is confusing and ambiguous. It sets a strategy of identifying places that could hold a mix of housing, such as two-and three-family houses, townhouses and small apartment buildings. And the section mentions that the town "will permit new construction and the conversion of existing homes, such as large Victorians, which can be suitable for small apartment buildings if the unique architecture is preserved."
The next paragraph -- without the amended language -- goes on to say that "this strategy will be implemented in all residential zoning districts throughout the community."
Black said it's important that people have enough information. "It could really affect the character of our neighborhood," he said.
But the amendments add language that makes that strategy sound less absolute and immediate. To the second paragraph, the amendment would add that the housing strategy will be put into action "by undertaking a comprehensive study of the community to identify" land-use districts throughout town "that could support a mix of housing types, and by subsequent passage of zoning ordinance amendments allowing multi-family residences."
And Nancy Letendre, the assistant town solicitor, said yesterday that while the town adopted the plan last year, there are still several steps before the town decides how to proceed in practice. There must be appropriate study of how each strategy could be applied in town. There will have to be ordinances passed at the town level, which would require public hearings, in order to pursue the housing strategies.
"Right now, the plan is meant to give a general policy statement with regard to the types of actions the town is going to take," said Letendre. She added that clarifying the process is "exactly the reason for the amendments."
She added: "It's safe to say that this is the first step in the planning stage for the development of low- and moderate-income housing, but there is going to be many subsequent stages, including doing comprehensive studies of the existing built communities in the town."
Whether the process and end result will satisfy everyone in the public remains to be seen. But to reach the 10 percent affordable housing mandate, the town needs to add 519 more housing units in the next 15 years, according to the affordable housing plan prepared by Daylor Consulting Group Inc.
Staff writer Michael P. McKinney can be reached at (401) 277-7447 or at mmckinneATprojo.com
ARTICLE TOOLS: 
