BARRINGTON — The first town-sponsored housing project was scheduled to go before the Barrington Planning Board on Tuesday, Jan. 6 for its master plan review.

As it is being proposed, the Barrington Workforce Housing Development includes 11 structures — 10 single-family houses and one single-family house with an attached one-bedroom apartment. The homes will be arranged in a horseshoe-shaped configuration on a 1.8-acre parcel that sits at the northern intersection of County Road and Eleanor Drive, just south of the East Bay Mental Health building.

The homes will be sold and not rented and will be built in four different styles. They each have three bedrooms.

The project is the first town-sponsored affordable housing development in Barrington and has been the focus of the Barrington Housing Trust. The trust was formed years ago in the wake of the state’s affordable housing legislation, which requires each community to offer at least 10 percent of its housing stock as affordable. At the time that legislation passed, around 1 percent of Barrington’s overall housing stock could be deemed “affordable.” That number has not changed much, although a pair of projects — Sweetbriar and the County Road development — will shift the figure.

West Elmwood Community Development Corporation is building the project, while the town had purchased the land. Right now there are three structures on the parcel, including a barn that is poor condition. If work proceeds as the plan dictates, people can expect a significant shift in the property’s appearance.

For starters, the existing structures will be razed and replaced with 11 new single-family homes. Each home is different than the next — plans show that some will have clapboard siding, while others will have shingles.

Ten of the homes will line the outside of the horseshoe configuration, and be connected by a one-way road that enters from and exits onto Eleanor Drive. The home with the attached one-bedroom apartment will rest on a lot inside the horseshoe-shaped roadway.

According to Barrington Town Planner Phil Hervey, the project recently went before the town’s technical review committee, which offered some recommendations, like better orientation of the homes to the street.

“It seems to comply with the affordable housing plan,” Mr. Hervey said.

Architectural Resources Inc. handled the designs for the project while Gates Leighton and Associates completed the landscape architecture.

The plans include the preservation of five large trees on the property and the addition of numerous new trees. A large buffer of bushes and trees will be added along County Road (Route 114 South) in an effort to shield the homes from passing traffic.

Mark Butler from Gates Leighton said all the trees on the lot were assessed and those deemed in poor condition were marked for removal. He added that the new vegetation will be either native to the region and/or “suitable for the site.”

Pricing for the homes has not yet been established, and according to West Elmwood Development Corporation Executive Director Sharon Conrad Wells, could depend on series of different factors. West Elmwood recently held a meeting for interested buyers.

“Understanding who the buyers are will help us establish where we go for funding,” Ms. Conrad Wells said. Potential sources for funding include Community Development Block Grants, Federal Home Loan Bank, Home Funds, and a program called Neighborhood Reinvestment.