To the editor:

The town made a mistake when it purchased the Carmelite Monastery in 2021. 

Neither the Town Manager nor the Town Council examined the property before recommending the purchase to the Financial Town Meeting or had a plan for the property’s reuse, although they pitched the purchase for elderly and affordable housing as well as recreation and conservation space. Even then, the motion only passed by a handful of votes. 

Two years and many meetings later, the ad hoc committee, an architect and the planning board have determined that the monastery building is not viable for reuse and have added two new proposals to the mix: a possible school or recreation building site. 

While everyone dithers over reuse, the number of lots, parking spaces and impact on the neighborhood, no one has yet done a serious study of Barrington’s need for more elderly housing, schools or recreation sites.

Meanwhile, the town has put a lot of other projects on the table: four new schools, restoration and Astroturf for the playing fields, a recreation building, and elderly and affordable housing, and all those proposals have tax implications. 

The Town should not be in the real estate business, and the Council should place deed restrictions on the Carmelite property to protect the salt marsh, zone the property R25 to conform with the neighborhood and put it back on the market.

Julia Califano

Barrington

Califano is a former Clarke Road resident, Elderly Housing Study Committee chair, Town Council president and Town Moderator.