Barrington affordable housing project lives

Good for the Barrington Planning Board for unanimously approving a controversial affording housing project.

I think.

“Multiple conditions” were placed on the project, according to the Providence Journal, including that at least 10 of the 40 units only have one bedroom. This condition would effectively limit the number of families with children that could live in the proposed Palmer Pointe development.

Barrington Patch reported that the applicants, the East Bay Community Development Corporation, will need to reassess the project. “Three representatives for EBCDC … were very pleased with the outcome, although [housing consultant Frank] Spinella said: ‘We need to determine whether it remains feasible with the conditions.'”

The proposed affordable housing project was controversial because an organized group in this upper-income suburb don’t think it’s fair that poor people get to live in subsidized housing in their community, and that the new development would increase traffic.

Barrington, nicknamed Borrington, has the highest real estate value, median income and NECAP scores in the state. It’s also been pretty good at keeping affordable housing projects out of town. State law requires there be 527 units of designated affordable housing but there are only 160.