“Belton Court is no more.” Those were the words shared by Marina Khoury, a partner for the design firm DPZ, which is working on the development of the former Zion Bible College property. 

During the July 28 Barrington Planning Board meeting, Khoury spoke about the planned demolition of the historical estate — it is included on the National Register of Historic Places. The board is reviewing the comprehensive permit application for Belton Court Village; the property owner ShineHarmony Holdings LLC is proposing the construction of hundreds of housing units… and the complete demolition of Belton Court. 

The initial application included plans to preserve a section of Belton Court, but the team representing ShineHarmony Holdings said the revised plan calls for the complete demolition of the Belton Court estate. 

ShineHarmony Holdings President Charlie Kalocsay told planning board members that ShineHarmony has already been approved for a demolition permit. He said the property owner held off on tearing down the building as a show of good faith to the town. 

Kalocsay said the cost to renovate Belton Court into housing units or a boutique hotel would be prohibitive to the developer. He said maybe Elon Musk could turn Belton Court into his private residence, if he wanted to sink the necessary capital into the project. 

“He could afford to do it,” Kalocsay said. “We can’t afford to do it.”

Kalocsay offered an alternative: He invited the town or a group of private residents an opportunity to submit an offer to rehab the structure themselves. Kalocsay said that maybe someone has good connections with individuals or organizations that have enough money to complete the work. (Kalocsay added that he does not think there is much of a chance this will happen.)

Density update

In addition to the complete demolition of Belton Court, the development team for ShineHarmony Holdings is also altering the project plans by reducing the total number of housing units. 

When the application was first submitted it called for the construction of 344 housing units, but Kalocsay said the revised plan includes about 280 units. 

Khoury referenced other changes — she said they reduced the height of the buildings, dropping the four-story structures to three stories. Khoury said the revised plan calls for wider travel lanes (from 10-foot travel lanes to 11-foot travel lanes) and larger parking spaces (from seven feet wide to eight feet wide). Khoury said the parking spaces will be placed on one side of the travel lanes, not both sides. 

While Khoury was describing the changes, Barrington Planning Board Chair Roni Phipps said the developer did not provide any of the revised plan details or documents — all that was shared was an overhead image of the development. Khoury told Phipps that Kalocsay did not want to show the plan yet, but preferred to talk about the changes. Kalocsay said he believes the fire chief will support the new changes to the travel lanes. 

Khoury also said the revised plan will eliminate the need for the variances the development team had previously identified. 

Khoury said the revised the plan also place development below the required level for lot coverage and exceeding the required amount of open space, which is 300 square feet per unit. Khoury said the development will have nearly 600 square feet of open space per unit, but board members and the public were left to accept the testimony as fact as there was no additional information or detailed specifications. 

In a letter to the town, Kalocsay wrote that the conceptual site plan revisions document “is not and should not be considered a submission of a revised site plan in our application” and that “Many factors including, but not limited to, revised engineering calculations, additional directional feedback from the planning board and financial considerations will need to be further evaluated prior obtaining Sineharmony's (sic) final approval to submit a official revision to the site plan in our application.”

Good fit

Khoury described the development as being safe and comfortable, that it encourages people to walk more, and will feature architecture that is appropriate to the region.

Khoury said they are designing a “small community.” 

“We are not designing a subdivision,” she said, adding that not everyone will love it, but some people will. 

Kalocsay said Belton Court Village will be a good fit for Barrington. He also said none of the changes that the development team had referenced were major changes to the plan.

I would call these tweaks, Kalocsay said. 

When the application was first submitted it did not include any housing designated as senior housing. Kalocsay said ShineHarmony is now contemplating using the large building in the center of the development that includes 92 units for age-restricted 55-and-older housing.

ShineHarmony ‘the victim’

The development team pushed back on some comments shared earlier in the permit review process. 

Kalocsay refuted the idea that the condition of Belton Court was a sign of willful neglect. He said ShineHarmony is the victim — he spoke about kids from Barrington and beyond vandalizing the estate. He said ShineHarmony paid $5,000 to have a metal door installed to secure a building entrance, but someone broke through it.

Kalocsay called it a losing battle, adding that ShineHarmony is in no position to renovate the building. 

William Landry, an attorney for the development team, said there was no legal or statutory basis to require ShineHarmony to renovate Belton Court. He said his clients are not philanthropists to that degree. 

Planning board members asked the development team to include information that addresses concerns shared during earlier planning board meetings. Phipps said public comments will be allowed again after ShineHarmony presents its second preliminary plan. 

The planning board meets again on Sept. 1 and Oct. 6. ShineHarmony is expected to present information at the Oct. 6 meeting. The completion deadline is extended to Nov. 30.