At last year's financial town meeting, residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of purchasing six acres of open space on George Street. The property cost taxpayers $1.125 million.

At this year's financial town meeting, residents will again be asked to vote on the purchase of open space in town. 

Barrington Town Council member Steven Boyajian said local officials recently signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire 4.6 acres of undeveloped land on Sowams Road. The property, reportedly owned by the estate of Manuel Medeiros, is located on the eastern side of Sowams Road, just north of Sowams Elementary School. 

Mr. Boyajian said the purchase and sale agreement is contingent upon taxpayer approval at the May financial town meeting. He said the agreed-upon sales price is $200,000.

"It is a good deal," Mr. Boyajian said. 

The town council member said he noticed that the property was for sale a while back, and thought that it had been lost to developers when he noticed a "Sale Pending" sign posted along Sowams Road. But after a short period of time, Mr. Boyajian noticed that the sale had fallen through and that a "For Sale" sign had returned to the property.

It was then that he decided to do something. 

"It was a pretty attractive price on a per acre basis," he said, adding that the land also ranked pretty highly on an open space scorecard created by an ad hoc committee in town. 

Mr. Boyajian said the property will also serve as a connector to other open space parcels in that area of town. It is adjacent to 5.5 acres of open space to the south that is owned by the land trust. The Audubon Society owns property to the east, and Johannis Farm — a large stretch of open and protected land — rests to the north.

Mr. Boyajian said the land will help create a large contiguous piece of open, undeveloped land, and also offer public access to the marshland near the Palmer River.

Asked whether he thought the purchase would be approved by voters at the FTM, Mr. Boyajian said "I hope it will be."

Sales similarities

The potential purchase shares some similarities with last year's open space acquisition, but is different in other ways. For starters, there was no developer planning to construct a high-density housing project on the parcel.

Last year's open space acquisition thwarted the development of a large, dense housing complex near Nockum Hill, an area known for its rural characteristics. The effort to preserve the land on George Street received plenty of public attention and support from groups in town.

At last May's financial town meeting, voters approved a resolution to appropriate $1,125,000 to purchase the six acres on George Street. That sales price was more than $600,000 higher than the town's assessment of the property and more than $400,000 higher than an appraisal.