Nockum Hill Condo Hearing Moved

The April 3 hearing on the appeal of the rejection of the Nockum Hill condominium development by the Barrington Planning Board has been moved to a new location.

The hearing by the State Housing Appeals Board (SHAB) will be held at the Department of Administration, One Capitol Hill, second floor, conference Room A, according to Christine Darocha, administrator for SHAB. It starts at 4 pm.

There is free parking in the State House parking lots. The gates go up at 3:30 pm.

The location was moved because of the potential for a large turnout by abutters and representatives of the Barrington Preservation Society, which opposes the development – dubbed The Residences at the Preserve.

The only item on the agenda is whether abutters to the proposed development will be allowed to intervene, Darocha said previously. Abutters received a certified letter that the hearing was scheduled, and SHAB usually allows abutters to have a say in an appeal, she said.

Whether that intervention will be written or in person, though, is the primary question, she said. 

The name of the complex comes from its proximity to the Doug Rayner Wildlife Preserve. It is primarily because of its proximity to the preserve that it was rejected 6-0 by the planning board.

In its determination, the board said, "the proposal’s density, design and location conflict with multiple goals, policies and strategies of the Affordable Housing Plan and the Comprehensive Community Plan, and raise concerns about its potential impact on the environment and health and safety.”

Opponents have referred it as a “garage door” development that simply would disrupt the character of Barrington’s last rural neighborhood. It would include 24 condos primarily in a former horse paddock that abuts farmland harvested by Four Town Farms and that lies just east of the wildlife refuge in a historic area of Barrington. Up to a half dozen of the condos would be affordable housing units.

Nockum Hill is deemed historic because it is the location of the first Baptist church built in America. A large stone on George Street within footsteps of the development’s site indicates that the church was built on Nockum Hill, although the exact location there is unknown.

Among the anticipated speakers at the hearing will be attorney William Landry, who represents the developer -- North End Holdings, and either attorneys Nancy Latendre or Andrew Teitz, who will represent Barrington.