To the editor:

I’m the 4th generation of my family to live in the Watson Avenue neighborhood, watching the construction of the Monastery from my bedroom window many years ago.
Over the years this lovely neighborhood hasn’t lost its uniqueness and charm. How many neighborhoods in Barrington have had a tradition to match our annual Fourth of July parade, going strong after more than 40 years? However, the Town of Barrington, which rushed in to buy the Monastery without having a plan for the space, wants to change all that.

The Town’s current options have one common theme: transform our quiet, friendly neighborhood, where kids can play in the streets and people come to walk and bicycle, into a high density housing area with lots of new traffic. One of the latest plans that is called financially feasible for a developer, has 53 housing units plus a public parking area. With residents, guests and public parking (which cannot be monitored) how many more cars could that be — triple the number we now have? 

We are interested in participating in a process that hopefully results in protecting one of the nicest neighborhoods in our town. The current plans the town offer do not do that, quite the opposite.

Stephen Lister

Barrington