Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Town Council Recap: Contentious public hearing on zoning map change

The Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec 21, 2016 was contentious as it seemed like most of the existing residents along Summer St spoke against the proposal to change the map to add high density Residential Zoning 7 to a single parcel. The map change would enable the one parcel to be developed for 34 residences instead of the approx 7-8 that the current zoning required. 

A few councilors spoke raising questions about the proposal but the measure did move to a second reading with an 8-0 vote. (One Councilor recused himself - Bissanti). The crowd was upset with the vote as even the councilors speaking against the measure (or raising questions about it) voted to move the measure forward to a second reading in January.

After the crowd left the meeting, the Council meeting seemed disorganized as the repercussions of the zoning bylaw map change seemed to have had lingering effects.

The Council needed to redo one vote to record it via roll call. They had previously voted via voice vote. The discussion then got testy as there was disagreement on the bylaw numbering convention. Normally, the bylaws are numbered in two parts the first digits referring to the year of passage, the second set increasing sequentially. Some of the bylaw amendments were numbered as 16 (this year) and some as 17 (next year). Further adding confusion to this, some of the paperwork in the hands of the councilors also differed. Some councilors had a set with paperwork for 16, others for 17. 

The set of bylaws to enable recreational marijuana in the industrial zones as well as implement a 2% sale tax moved to the Planning Board for their action. The measures will return to the Town Council for 2 readings before the final vote and enactment in 2017.

Not to be overshadowed by the contentious zoning hearing, the new Lieutenant for the Fire Dept. Keith Darling was sworn in to open the meeting.



PDF for the zoning map change
http://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/mai/files/rr7_16-775_rr7_public_hearing.pdf


GIS Map entry for 496 Summer St
http://franklin.patriotproperties.com/Summary.asp?AccountNumber=1637




On Summer St, at the entrance to the Town Forest. Some of the land where the  trees are would be were the development in question would be positioned.
On Summer St, at the entrance to the Town Forest. Some of the land where the
trees are would be were the development in question would be positioned.

My full set of notes taking during the meeting remotely can be found here. Note: I did catch up to the portion of the meeting that I missed due to work and added/updated the notes accordingly.

The video replay of the Town Council meeting is available
http://view.earthchannel.com/PlayerController.aspx?&PGD=franknma&eID=419

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