You're Invited! Franklin for All - Recommendation Review Public Forum set for Monday, May 16 at 6:30 PM

You're Invited! Franklin for All - Recommendation Review Public Forum set for Monday, May 16 at 6:30 PM

The next phase of Franklin For All is ready! Our project consultants have created draft rezoning recommendations utilizing the feedback provided by over 600 residents during the visioning survey. Join us for a hybrid public forum at 6:30pm on Monday, May 16th at The Black Box or via Zoom. Weigh in on draft zoning recommendations and learn about next steps for the rezoning effort. Doors open at 6:00pm.

Register for the forum here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0td-mrrzMrE9AK0ufr5wI3nHVYjCRISTLJ

You can learn more about this project on our project website here: https://www.mapc.org/resource-library/franklin-for-all/

Shared from -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/youre-invited-franklin-all-recommendation-review-public-forum-set-monday-may-16-630pm

You're Invited! Franklin for All - Recommendation Review Public Forum

Economic Development Subcommittee - Agenda - May 4, 2022 - 5:45 PM

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting

Agenda & Meeting Packet

May 4, 2022 - 5:45 PM

Meeting will be held at the Municipal Building
2nd floor, Council Chambers
355 East Central Street

Agenda:

1. EDC + Steering Committee Discussion: MAPC “Franklin For All” zoning reform project for Franklin Center, including the Downtown Commercial District and surrounding neighborhoods

 

Agenda doc & connection info ->   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/2022-05-04_edc_agenda_.pdf

Economic Development Subcommittee - Agenda - May 4, 2022 - 5:45 PM

"One thing nearly everyone agrees on: Massachusetts faces a housing crisis, and needs to build more"

"Everyone should do their part. 

That was the thinking behind the ambitious housing legislation that Massachusetts lawmakers passed just over a year ago. 

The basic idea: require suburbs where the single-family home reigns supreme to do more to help address the housing shortage. The legislation mandates new multifamily zones in 175 cities and towns, known as “MBTA Communities” because they have a subway, commuter rail, bus, or ferry station, or neighbor a town that does. It sets the stage for potentially hundreds of thousands of new apartments and condos to be built across Eastern Massachusetts in the coming years."

Continue reading the article (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/23/business/charlie-baker-wants-lots-new-housing-around-mbta-stations-not-so-fast-towns-say/

My 'quick' take on this complicated issue to summarize:

• Franklin is underway with the Franklin For All planning effort
• The requirement is for zoning changes (if required) to be approved by 2024 to meet the goals set by State (not yet published - currently in review process from feedback on the draft released)
• It is not yet clear that Franklin needs to do much to change zoning (unless we really want to) as it appears, we are already within the proposed goals (remains to be confirmed). In Town Council presentation on this matter, for the downtown commercial zone we already permit more than what is required. How much we already have within the downtown zone (vs what is required) is an open question
• The process will not be completed quickly, MAPC has draft recommendations scheduled to be reviewed on May 16 (recommendations not yet released)
• Once released and reviewed, the recommendations still need to be reviewed by the Economic Development Subcommittee, potential zoning changes referred by Town Council to Planning Board, Planning Board does public hearings and makes recommendation back to Town Council, Town Council also does public hearings and discussions before voting
• Please follow along this journey, we all need improvements to housing stock especially affordable housing in Franklin

Franklin For All page ->  https://www.mapc.org/resource-library/franklin-for-all/

May 16 event info -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/04/hybrid-public-forum-scheduled-for.html

"One thing nearly everyone agrees on: Massachusetts faces a housing crisis, and needs to build more"

Hybrid public forum scheduled for Monday, May 16 to the review the draft zoning recommendations

Franklin For All Public Forum - Monday, May 16 at 6:30PM

UPCOMING HYBRID PUBLIC FORUM! On Monday, May 16 at 6:30 PM, join MAPC and the Town of Franklin for the next Franklin For All hybrid public forum. This event will take place at The Black Box (15 West Central Street) and over Zoom. Weigh in on draft zoning recommendations and learn about next steps for the rezoning effort. Doors to The Black Box open at 6:00 PM. Click the button below to register and tell us if you plan to attend in-person or remotely. Register Here! www.mapc.org/franklin-for-all

Metropolitan Area Planning Council | 60 Temple Place, Boston, MA 02111 Sent by ebattaglia@mapc.org powered by Try email marketing for free today!

Economic Development Subcommittee meeting runs out of time to review the details MAPC shared - 04/06/22 (audio)

FM #768 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 768 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the audio recording of the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting held on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 in the Council Chambers.  

MAPC presented a summary of the survey results which were quickly cobbled together as the survey had closed April 1. They also presented three scenarios for dealing with the MBTA community initiative and the meeting ran out of time to fully explore these ideas. (Town Council was scheduled to begin at 7 PM).

Copies of the presentation documents will be shared when available. The MAPC web page still touts completing the survey by April 1. 

The recording of the meeting runs about an hour and 15 minutes.  

Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-768-economic-development-subcmte-mtg-04-06-22

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Meeting agenda doc -> 

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/2022-04-06_edc_agenda_2.pdf 

My notes captured via Twitter during the portion of the meeting I attended (approx. 10-15 mins late due to coverage of the Board of Health meeting upstairs) 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jMCegUZ6abWjrXrR-FSS81XrXRIq1D1y/view?usp=sharing 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

1 of the slides shared during the meeting; copy of presentation to be shared when available

Great summary of the MBTA community zoning initiative

While we wait patiently for MAPC to share the documents the showed at the Economic Development Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 6, we can also review this thread from Clark Ziegler, Executive Director of the MA Housing Partnership (https://www.mhp.net/about-us/staff). A great summary of the MBTA community zoning initiative.

Link to the Twitter thread (PDF) ->  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e5DKbp_E_YA7peYacj5SDS24PPuuhcpP/view?usp=sharing

Embedded PDF doc to read

photo of one of the pages of the presentation shared on Weds evening

Additional slides from the portion of the meeting I was able to attend. Had been late to this session as I was covering the Board of Health meeting upstairs in the Municipal Bldg.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/pLeLHhi3GZ6UtSyP8

Note 1 - Communication is best facilitated when the audience is prepared to discuss the topic at hand. Audience preparation is critical to a worthy and productive dialog. Sharing information in advance of the meeting (especially when the info is loaded with details) is much more productive than teasing the audience and forcing a delay in interaction or dealing with speculation about the intent of the data. 

Note 2 - the audio recording of the meeting will be available along with the transcript so that those who did participate can return to review details, and those who were unable to do so at the time, can also hear what was covered.

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting - April 6, 2022

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting

Agenda 

April 6, 2022 - 5:30 PM

Meeting will be held at the Municipal Building

2nd floor, Council Chambers

355 East Central Street

Agenda:

1. Update: MAPC “Franklin For All” zoning reform project for Franklin Center, including the Downtown Commercial District and surrounding neighborhoods

Agenda doc and remote connection info
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/2022-04-06_edc_agenda_2.pdf

 

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting - April 6, 2022

MAPC: Resources for Low-Income Residents to lower their energy bills

25% of U.S. households have a high energy burden -- meaning they spend a a high percentage of their incomes on energy bills. @AllInEnergy helps people lower their bills through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and income-based discounts.

https://t.co/Xde1rIAt80   or   https://www.mapc.org/planning101/reducing-energy-burden-resources-for-low-income-residents/

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/MAPCMetroBoston/status/1490683515188355073

MAPC: Resources for Low-Income Residents to lower their energy bills

Economic Development Subcommittee meeting - 02/02/2022 (audio)

FM #717 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 717 in the series. 

This shares the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting that was held on Wednesday, February 2, 2022.

The meeting was started in a hybrid mode; all four committee members were participating with the MAPC representatives participating via the Zoom connection. Some public participants and the Town Administration staff were in person. Other public participants were able to via the Zoom conference bridge. 

Links to the meeting agenda and my notes are in the show notes. 

This recording misses approx. the first 12 minutes and runs about 45 minutes.  Let’s listen to the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting for Feb 2, 2022.

Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-717-economic-development-subcommittee-plus-mtg-02-02-22

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Meeting agenda 

https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/_2022-02-02_edc_agenda_.pdf 

 

Presentation document shared during the meeting

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UbeDi8v3Fb6NNFNvf4vykdCl57wn4bFw/view?usp=sharing

My notes captured via Twitter and shared here in summary form

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/recap-edc-plus-hears-more-detailed.html 

--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

 

For additional information, please visit www.Franklinmatters.org/   or www.franklin.news 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

 

Economic Development Subcommittee meeting - 02/02/2022  (audio)

Recap: EDC Plus hears a more detailed outline of "Franklin For All" info gathering and Forum scheduled for March 7

Quick Recap:

• The meeting effectively has two parts, one with the EDC plus group and one with just the core EDC subcommittee
• The first part was an overview of the info gathering process leading to the first forum March 7
• The second part of the meeting was a review of the goals for the subcommittee
• The presentation doc is not yet posted so screen grabs of the pages captured during the meeting are available in the photo album
• Audio of the meeting will be available in a couple of days

 

----

As with most meetings in this pandemic period, I took my notes remotely via the Zoom connection to the meeting

 

The Twitter hashtag can be found online  #edc0202 starting with this tweet

https://twitter.com/FranklinMatters/status/1489009984432230401

Photo album -> https://photos.app.goo.gl/PbZq1cR8NM1N7Z428

 

Agenda document -  

https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/_2022-02-02_edc_agenda_.pdf

• Shifting to #edc0202 meeting to report on that already on progress (It was scheduled to start at 5:45, I joined at 5:55 after the Board of Health meeting finished)
• Explaining rationale for hybrid forum for Mar 7 session. #edc0202
• Survey to solicit input post forum, sample Qs shown on slide #edc0202
• Pause for Qs #edc0202
• Will need to register even day of, for the remote/Zoom session, not required for in person attendance #edc0202
• Housing production plan can help inform the discussion on zoning for more and affordable housing; zoning for economic development - what does it mean? Message formats on slide #edc0202
• Looking to keep content coming through to the event to help provide info on zoning and inform the discussion, #edc0202 materials can also gather feedback
• Build list of contacts with engagement on the material distribution #edc0202
• Looking for #edc0202 committee to help with promotion within their circle of meetings and contacts
• Outreach toolkit not meant to be static #edc0202
• The study in 2003 did work downtown but did not address zoning at that time #edc0202  currently no financial carrots for the state guidelines on the zoning push for the MBTA
• Audio format was raised by Chair Hamblen but I also tapped in to offer to help. #edc0202
• Focus groups scheduled and one already completed to help gather specific info from targeted groups #edc0202 list being built for residents for that focus group. Focus groups would be 10-15 folks to enable the focus format, other inputs are available (survey)
• Q of the population for the area in question? A - Not readily at hand but also would be looking at a projection for what it could be #edc0202
• #edc0202 Emma of MAPC will be busy over the next month, about a dozen participated in the focus group session on Monday, doc will summarize the input from all of the focus groups in advance of the Forum
• Moving to 2nd agenda item, #edc0202 the plus portion of EDC has left, leaving only the proper EDC present (along with remote attendance)
• Master plan process will commence in 2023, open space plan update also next year. #edc0202 link to goals in meeting agenda doc https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/_2022-02-02_edc_agenda_.pdf
• For example change of bylaw for commuter parking currently only set up for monthly, commuting has changed and requests are for other intervals #edc0202 motion to adjourn, passes

 

Audio recording of meeting to be available in couple of days

 

EDC Plus hears a more detailed outline of "Franklin For All" info gathering and Forum scheduled for March 7