The Tax Abatement Issue

Gary Morse posted a new Patch article today that highlights the tax abatement that will be requested of the Town Council, and therefore Barrington residents. This abatement is basically to allow EBCDC to pay less taxes on their proposed project at Sowams Nursery than is normal.

As a follow on to the petition (which was submitted with 61 signatures but is now up to 141), this new article outlines the history of decisions regarding such tax abatements, how these unfair tax assessment methods have led to litigation against the town as recently as 2010, and why there are still open questions about the processes that have led us all to this point.

And this comes at a key time just after the recent walkthrough of the Sowams Nursery property by the Planning Board and the critical upcoming second Public Hearing on May 30th.

Second Public Hearing coming soon!

Today our latest flyer was distributed in the Barrington Times, to remind all about the second of two important Public Hearings regarding the proposed $14.5mm affordable-housing project at Sowams Nursery. See the original announcement about these Hearings here.

As with the session on May 15th, CODDER 02806 will make a formal presentation, and the public is invited to speak and ask questions. Needless to say these are critical meetings since they involve review of the “Master Plan” phase of the review process, and public input is very important. Further, we have learned much in the last two weeks since the first session, about many areas including procedural questions to tax abatement requests.

So please set these dates aside and plan on attending, encourage neighbors to go as well, and to keep up to date, sign up for our mailing list at CODDER02806.com.

See the flyer here:

What can you do?

CODDER 02806 recommends visiting this Barrington Patch article by Gary Morse "What Can Average Resident Do?" It discusses tax abatements for the proposed $14.5 million corporate owned dense housing project at the Sowams Nursery property. There's a link to the petition you may want to sign. Gary has long been a champion in representing the interests of taxpayers.

While the petition has been delivered to Town Hall on May 20th, there are almost as many signatures on it since then as there were leading up to it. This shows continuing and growing awareness of questions that need to be asked about this project.

Please also attend the next meeting of the Planning Board on Thursday, May 30th at Town Hall, at 7pm.

Protect our Environment

Check your local Barrington Times for a special letter regarding our environment and the implications of the $14.5mil corporate owned project proposed for Sowans Nursery.

Full letter contents below.

First Public Hearing last night!

The first Public Hearing for the proposed construction of a corporate owned $14.5million, multi-unit, rental apartment complex at the Sowams Nursery on Sowams Road. Barrington Patch provides coverage of the questions asked, many by Bill Lemoult, and already this morning the comments have begun to roll in.

Watch for the second Public Hearing scheduled for 5/30. See flyer below:

The Saga of Strategy 5-8

We believe that authority exercised by the Town Council pertaining to the Barrington Comprehensive Community Plan and Municipal zoning ordinances, to develop Low and Moderate Income Housing (particularly at the Sowams Nursery) is flawed.

This is a memo that was dropped off at Town Hall yesterday.

CODDER: Myths vs Facts #3

Today we published the third in a series of Myths vs Facts regarding the proposed construction of a corporate owned $14.5million, multi-unit, rental apartment complex at the Sowams Nursery on Sowams Road.

While this project has been discussed since early last year, there still exist many assumptions and myths about the nature of the project and the LMIH goals used as justification.

We are setting the record straight.

Click Read More for details!

Save the Date Flyer

Today our new flyer was distributed in the Barrington Times. See the flyer here:

CODDER: Myths vs Facts #2

Today we published the second in a series of Myths vs Facts regarding the proposed construction of a corporate owned $14.5million, multi-unit, rental apartment complex at the Sowams Nursery on Sowams Road.

While this project has been discussed since early last year, there still exist many assumptions and myths about the nature of the project and the LMIH goals used as justification.

We are setting the record straight.

Click Read More for details!

CODDER: Myths vs Facts #1

Today we published the first in a series of Myths vs Facts regarding the proposed construction of a corporate owned $14.5million, multi-unit, rental apartment complex at the Sowams Nursery on Sowams Road. See the post on Patch here.

While this project has been discussed since early last year, there still exist many assumptions and myths about the nature of the project and the LMIH goals used as justification.

We are setting the record straight.

Click Read More for details!