"Downtown is a very unique area," Taberner told about 25 people who attended the meeting. "It is much different than a half-mile (away). It's perfect for transit-oriented, mixed-use (development)."
That overall concept is still important to creating a vibrant downtown, but planning staff plan to soften some of the planned changes from downtown's current commercial zoning as a result of the meeting, he said.
The proposal initially included parking mandates for residential and commercial space, but the new plan requires 1.5 spaces per residential unit and no commercial parking. Under current zoning, there are no parking requirements for residential or commercial projects allowed by right.
That change pleased Diane Glass, who owns a commercial building on East Central Street. Glass worried that if property owners were required to add parking spaces for commercial space, they would limit the parking to their customers, creating empty spaces when those businesses were closed.
Read more:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x617855042/Franklin-officials-to-soften-changes-in-downtown-zoning#ixzz1HJpjBFp7
My notes from the meeting can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/03/live-reporting-downtown-commercial.html
Note: The sentence
"But several town councilors and downtown business and property owners worried the proposal would drive away businesses by making height, parking and other requirements too strict."
Would be more accurate if it read as follows:
"But several downtown business and property owners worried the proposal would drive away businesses by making height, parking and other requirements too strict." Only 1 Town Councilor was present at the meeting.
Franklin, MA
