Are there Pesticides at Sowams Nursery

Also today, another concerned Barrington resident posted a Patch Blog post questioning whether there are pesticides at Sowams Nursery.

One aspect of the proposed development at Palmer Pointe that has not been widely discussed is the potential for the former agricultural business to have used, and subsequently contaminated soil on the property with, agricultural chemicals, such as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.

When commercial agricultural properties are considered for residential development, it is customary for the prospective purchaser to conduct due diligence investigations in the form of soil and groundwater testing, as well as conduct a full inventory of the pesticides that have been used at the property.  This is particularly important when the site has been used for agricultural purposes for some time; e.g., during times when now-banned pesticides were legal. To date, I have not seen or heard anything about such investigations. The Barrington Conservation Commission did provide comments to the Planning Board on this issue, but have not heard back on their response to those comments.  

Continue reading the article here.

Good article in Providence Journal

This is a great article in the Providence Journal:

BARRINGTON — Since last fall, Palmer Pointe, a proposed affordable rental housing development off Sowams Road, has stirred opposition that has led to a more sweeping attack on affordable housing in this affluent town.

Last week, as the Planning Board appeared poised to approve a scaled-back master plan for Palmer Pointe at its Aug. 6 meeting, the Town Council discussed a challenge to state law to stop a local tax benefit for Sweetbriar, a 47-unit affordable rental development on Washington Road.

Continue reading the article at Providence Journal.

Final Weeks Begins!

The Barrington Planning Board has set a date of August 22nd for a final decision on whether to allow the EBCDC project application for the $14.5mm corporate-owned housing development on Sowams Nursery to proceed to proposal to the Town Council. 

This kind of project requires many different Town Boards and Committees to align. The above date has resulted in an accelerated series of meetings CODDER will be attending with our new Counsel, Bill Harsch (see this announcement). 

• Town Council Meeting- July 15th at 6:30pm Library Auditorium (agenda)
• Item 15 of the agenda is "Discuss and Act on Affordable Housing Questions and Update Comprehensive Permit/Low and Moderate Income Housing Exemption Applications".
• Special Planning Board Meeting- July 16th at 7pm School Committee Room in Town Hall (agenda)
• Planning Board to hear expert testimony lead by our Counsel, Bill Harsch 
• Zoning Board of Review- July 18th at 7pm School Committee Room in Town Hall
• Purpose: "hearing applications for Dimensional Variances, Use variances or Special Use Permit"

The most important of these meetings this week is on Tuesday, July 16th. 

Separately, we recently saw this Providence Journal article, from the President of the Charlestown Town Council which highlights challenges they've experienced recently with regards to their own Low to Moderate Income (LMIH)-related housing projects. Notably, their attempts to proactively address the needs of both low-to-moderate and elderly housing have been complicated by a variety of unforeseen factors at various government and private levels. 

This serves as a good cautionary tale as Barrington continues to try and balance the State mechanisms that allow developers to push potentially ill-fitting development proposals with a Town Council and Boards needs to oversee their own destiny with regards to how the town evolves.

UPDATED: CODDER engages Counsel

On July 2, 2013 CODDER 02806 engaged William W. Harsch, with offices in Warwick R.I. as Counsel in the matter of the proposed $14.5 million development of rental housing units on the Sowams Nursery in Barrington.

Updates:

• Find at this link relevant information about the attorney.
• We have posted this article in the Patch as well.

He appeared on our behalf at the Planning Board Meeting on July 2nd and  will be eliciting the testimony of experts on various matters concerning the project at a meeting of the Planning Board scheduled for July 16, 2013 (also reported in Patch).

We felt it necessary to engage an attorney to rebut the many misrepresentations that have surrounded this controversial project, and to support, within the legal framework, our claims concerning the inappropriateness of this proposed project.

As a result, we will be seeking your help in raising money to cover future costs. This is a matter with broad implications concerning the welfare of our community and our Town, and we have tried to present those to you in an honest and straightforward manner on our blog and in the media.  If enough of our many supporters pitch in we should be easily able to cover the prospective costs.

There will be more details soon!

UPDATE: Planning Board Meeting and How You Can Help

Important Meeting!

The Barrington Planning Board will be holding their monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 2nd in the Barrington Library Auditorium. One of the topics will be the proposal for development of Sowams Nursery. We therefore are releasing a new flyer to highlight this meeting, and specifically the new and updated questions to be raised by CODDER 02806. You can see the flyer here:

How Can You Help?

We have heard from many people, asking how they can help oppose this proposed development. 

In addition to showing support at the important meetings in which aspects of this proposal are raised and visiting CODDER02806.com, you can send a letter to:

Michael McCormick

Chairman of the Planning Board

Barrington Town Hall

283 County Road, Barrington, RI 02806-2406

Your letter should state why they are opposed to the project and indicate any unanswered questions that you would like answered.

Letter to the Editor

This Letter to the Editor was published today on EastBayRI.com, in response to another reader submission about the authority of the State Housing Appeals Board and the continued dialog that makes this development project anything but a "done deal".

Click Read More to see the full letter.

Important meetings this week!

On Monday, June 3rd at 7pm in Council Chambers at Town Hall, the Town Council will be meeting to discuss the requested Tax Abatement sought by EBCDC in their project to develop corporate-owned housing at Sowams Nursery. As mentioned in this blog post, this is the most recent event in a long series of actions regarding tax abatements on projects like these, with many open questions.

On Tuesday, June 4th at 7pm in Council Chambers at Town Hall, the Planning Board is hosting part 2 of the second Public Hearing on the proposed development of Sowams Nursery.

These Public Hearings (outlined here and here) provide opportunity for all Barrington residents to have their voices heard on this project. The second session on May 30th went so long the Board agreed to extend it into a third session on Tuesday. And as with the first Public Hearing, CODDER 02806 will be making a presentation.

This is one of those rare times when the public can make significant contributions to the welfare of this beautiful town we live in.

PLEASE RAISE YOUR VOICE!

Interested in keeping up more closely with CODDER 02806 and this project? Join our mailing list on our website (enter your email on the right hand side)!