What is the Town doing to preserve Barrrington’s rural character? (1/12/2024)
Preserving Barrington's rural character is a priority of the Town, reflected in the Select Board's Mission, Vision, and Values. This effort takes tremendous effort because, objectively, Barrington is not small. Our population is larger than 87% of towns and cities in New Hampshire and by land area we are larger than 80% of other towns and cities and one of the largest in southern New Hampshire. The details below highlight the multifaceted approach the Town is taking to preserve Barrington's rural character.
The real estate market (driven largely by external factors) has continued to create high demand for residential development in Barrington. This real estate market is making property which was previously too expensive to develop more likely to be developed and property owners who were previously reluctant to sell, reconsider. In response to the influx of residential development proposals, residents have articulated well founded concerns that the volume of residential development would have adverse affects on the rural character of Barrington. Most importantly, the Town is not ignoring those concerns. Highlighted below are some of the ways (within the Town’s authority) that the Town is working to preserve Barrington’s character.
When discussing residential development, we regularly share the following frequently asked questions to help explain the development process and how land use rules are set:
Who decides how property is subdivided or developed? (12/8/2022)
Who decides land use rules, how can I get involved? (11/19/2023)
Zoning Changes
Residents are able to set land use rules through the zoning ordinance. There is not unlimited control to prevent development, but zoning is an invaluable tool to align development rules with the will of the people. Most zoning amendments that residents vote on are proposed by the Planning Board and there is also the opportunity for petitioned amendments. The Planning Board’s role is equally proactive and reactive when proposing changes to the land use rules. They want to anticipate development and propose appropriate rules. They also experience a developer’s application of the rules which might follow the rules but not match the original intent and in those cases they reactively propose changes to the applicable rules. The Planning Board has proposed over 100 amendments to the zoning ordinance over the last 10 years which includes two dozen that will be voted on this March 12, 2024h This is the most direct way to impact development in Barrington.
Housing Chapter of the Master Plan
We recognize that not all residents participate in the zoning amendment process. Therefore, it is important that we engage residents in other ways to understand what residents want to see in their community. One tool we use for this purpose is the Master Plan. In Barrington, we update our Master Plan on a rolling basis and typically one chapter is updated per year. In recognition of the residential development, the Planning Board chose to update the Housing Chapter of the Master Plan starting in 2023. This process will be concluded in early 2024 and involved a survey with broad participation, an in-person listening session, and a steering committee of residents to help sift through the data and make it meaningful. It is very likely that the recommendations from this update to the Master Plan will result in Planning Board sponsored zoning amendments in 2025 to further refine our land use rules as they relate to housing and residential development.
Attracting Commercial Tax Base
Based on the real estate market and existing land use rules, some level of residential development is inevitable. Expanding the commercial tax base is one way to lessen the financial impact that residential development has on the school and Town budgets. Recently, the Town sold two Town-owned lots on Redemption Road to TURBOCAM where they are finishing a 35,000 sq. ft. building which will be valued at nearly $2.5 million. Additionally, the Town owns more than 125 acres near the Lee border which is destined for commercial/industrial development. That site represents the potential for tens of millions of dollars of commercial/industrial development which would be very advantageous for the tax base.
Barrington Commons and Town Center
There are more than 140 residential units already approved in the Town Center (surrounding the intersection of Routes 125 and 9). Vacant land in this area is being developed primarily with residential projects because that is where the demand is. If all of the land is developed residentially, the Town will lose an opportunity to have a quaint Town Center where residents can gather and businesses can thrive. There is a 13-acre vacant lot for sale in between the elementary school, MD Motors (formerly Knight’s Garage), Calef’s Country Store, and the Post Office. Part of this lot is ‘Calef’s Field’ where residents have played ball for generations. This lot is also situated on top of a high-value aquifer. The marketing materials for the lot show a proposed development which includes 91 residential units. If this lot is fully developed, it would also limit the redevelopment potential of adjacent lots (with frontage on Route 125) because of septic loading and well radius limits. The Select Board put a plan together to buy this lot using tax increment financing. Voters will vote on this in March. The plan calls for turning the 13-acres into the Barrington Commons park and making other transportation/pedestrian improvements in the Town Center including school zones and crosswalks. The Town would preserve development and redevelopment potential of more valuable lots adjacent to these 13 acres. Proposals like these are aimed at investing in Barrington’s future and preserving Barrington’s character.
Land Conservation
The Town of Barrington is consistently working on projects to conserve land which could otherwise be residentially developed. In the past two years, three large projects which conserved hundreds of acres in Barrington are:
Conservation of Landry - https://seltnh.org/landry/ - 163 Acres
Conservation of Dudzik – 70 Acres for Swains Lake Village Water District
Conservation of Leighton - https://seltnh.org/selt-conserves-leighton-forest/ - 400+ Acres
These projects have been great ways to preserve Barrington’s rural character.