SAVE SPRUCE POND BROOK

SAVE SPRUCE POND BROOK! 

STOP MADALENE VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 

ATTEND THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING AND BE HEARD

OCTOBER 20, 2016 7:30 PM

There are three attachments for this post. 

1. a flyer calling for attendance at the ZBA meeting.
2. the plans for the development
3. the letter from the developer

one of several signs in the Peck St, Wachusett St, and Cottage St neighborhood of the proposed development

Franklin Town Council to vote on measure to oppose Ballot Question #4

Also on the Town Council agenda for Wednesday, Oct 19, 2016:

TOWN OF FRANKLIN 

RESOLUTION 16-66 

OPPOSITION TO PASSAGE OF BALLOT QUESTION #4 

BE IT RESOLVED that the Franklin Town Council hereby opposes the passage of Question #4: Legislation, Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana, as it appears on the official ballot for the State election to be held on November 8, 2016. 

This Resolution shall become effective according to the rules and regulations of the Town of Franklin Home Rule Charter.

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Council/October%2019,%202016/16-66.pdf

• For the full agenda Oct 19, 2016

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/10/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-oct-19.html

• For the Election Collection, all the info needed for the MA election on Nov 8

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/10/election-collection-2016.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/10/election-collection-2016.html

“To have fun is therapeutic and healing"

While the memory cafe program at the Franklin Senior Center is not mentioned in this article, it is available this Thursday, October 20.

"Lisa Ushkurnis could feel the pain, sadness and isolation in the voices of countless senior citizens each time they discussed their spouse’s, a friend’s or their own battle with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. 

The pain of watching a loved one’s memory and quality of life slowly deteriorate. The sadness of knowing there is no cure. The isolation of rarely leaving their home out of fear that their loved one with dementia may act inappropriately. 

“I heard their pain and isolation,” said Ushkurnis, social services supervisor with the Framingham Council on Aging. “They felt like they had nowhere to go, nothing to do. It’s a heavy disease.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161016/social-programs-key-for-dementia-patients

Franklin Senior Center

FHS has a good day against OA with 3 wins and a tie

From Hockomock Sports we share the FHS fall sports results from Monday, Oct 17

*** Boys soccer = Franklin, 1 @ Oliver Ames, 0 – Final

– Kevin Hall scored the lone goal of the game in the second half on an assist from Noah Scafati to help the Panthers earn the win. Freddie Beckmann recorded the shutout in net for Franklin.

*** Girls soccer = Oliver Ames, 0 @ Franklin, 0 – Final

– Regan Benton had the shutout for Oliver Ames in Net. OA head coach Britt Sellmayer said Zoe Chazan, Dana Lowney and Kiana Lozzi had strong games for the Tigers.

*** Volleyball = Franklin, 3 @ Oliver Ames, 2 – Final

– Franklin picked up a big division win in five sets on the road at Oliver Ames. Erin Skidmore led the Panthers with 12 kills while adding 23 digs and a pair of aces. Maddie Kuzio also had two aces while leading Franklin with 31 digs. Lauren McGrath had 31 assists to go along with an ace and Maggie Doyle had six kills and five blocks.

*** Field Hockey = Franklin, 5 @ Oliver Ames, 1 – Final

FHS Panthers

– Franklin punched its ticket to the state tournament with an impressive win on the road. Sophomores Annie Walsh and Cassi Ronan each had scored two goals and grabbed an assist to lead the Panthers. Senior Kayla Marshall added a goal and senior Caroline Lounsbury had an assist. Franklin sophomore goalie Christina Lucini made four saves to get the win in net. Franklin head coach Lisa Cropper said Dana Lewandowski and Kate Morse had outstanding games through the midfield and on defense.


For all the results around the Hockomock League on Monday
https://hockomocksports.com/mondays-schedule-scoreboard-101716/

Franklin Arts Academy Boosters Hosts Fall Wine Tasting - Oct 20

The Franklin Arts Academy (FAA) Boosters will be hosting a Wine-Tasting Fundraiser at Pour Richards Wine and Spirits, 14 Grove St, Franklin on Thursday, Oct 20th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. 

Franklin Arts Academy (FAA)

The proceeds will be used to fund FAA student field trips, program events and scholarships for FAA graduating seniors. Pour Richard’s has graciously offered to host the event and will also be donating a portion of sales proceeds to the FAA Boosters. Pour Richard’s also offers a wide variety of beer and spirits. 

For more information or to reserve your $5 tickets please contact Karen Glynn at faaboosters@gmail.com. Tickets will be available at the door for $7.

"overhauled in an effort to make it more accessible for those on the go"

"The new town website will go live this week, with officials touting its mobile-friendly design and better organization of information. 

Deputy Town Administrator Jamie Hellen said the site is scheduled to go up on Thursday, Oct. 20, but it may be a few days before visitors see the changes. He said it typically takes one to two days for new pages to go live. 

Among the new features of the site will be email subscription offerings for additional items (like Town Council agendas, legal notices and public hearings) and a development page, aimed at providing information on available commercial properties."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161017/new-franklin-website-launches-this-week

new mobile version of Town of  Franklin webpage

new mobile version of Town of  Franklin webpage - another page view

One of the drawbacks of the new site will be the links from here to the Franklin website will break. There is supposed to be a landing page for those who find a broken link with advice for what to do next. As most of the content did get copied over to the new site, a search of the new site should find it.

If what you look for you find here and don't successfully link to there, let me know. There are thousands of possible links to fix and I will do them upon request.

I had a habit of making my own copy of most documents to always provide a good link for readers. This was especially the case for something posted to the 'Franklin News" page which was cleaned out periodically (and broke all the links as soon as the cleaning took place).

While there are thousands of links that could break, I hope that you won't find too many. If you do, please comment on that posting or send me an email (shersteve @ gmail. dot com), and I'll find the doc and fix the link.

Jeff Nutting's Letter to the Town Council - Housing Growth Summary

Lately, I have been approached by landowners/developers (L/D) seeking my opinion on whether the Town will provide a zoning change so they can develop their land into Condos, Apartments and Zone 7 (which allows 4 times the density of Rural Residential zoning). All the requests require a zoning change for the L/D. While a project may offer some benefit, it is the Town Council that needs to decide on zoning and the pace of development you want for Franklin.

The Town Council adopted an updated Master Plan in 2013 as a road map to continued improvements for the citizens of Franklin. The plan covered a wide range of topics many which the Council have embraced to date, most notably zoning changes, sidewalk construction, as well as open space /recreation issues.

Currently, the economy seems to be in good shape and the demand for housing in Franklin is higher than it has been in a long time. You will recall the tremendous growth of the 1990's and the various steps Town Council took to reign in the growth. They rezoned residential land to industrial land, adopted over-55 housing, bought open space when available, adopt the water and sewer extension bylaws, a growth control bylaw, the so-called circle bylaw, etc. Further, the Council voted for an impact fee on new homes that was rejected by the Court. All the efforts to control development happened after the spike in housing production of the mid- 1990's and the fast growth created problems that we are still dealing with today. Housing starts continued in the early 2000's at a slower pace and then the recession of 2008 reduced development further.

In review, dwelling units created in the last five years by the Building Commissioner reports the following dwelling units:

• 2011 - 20 units
• 2012 - 57 units
• 2013 - 48 units
• 2014 - 47 units
• 2015 - 38 units

This does not count the two developments on King Street and East Central Street with a total of over 250 units for elderly citizens.

Since 2012, we are averaging about 48 units a year. This seems to be a reasonable and steady growth. Franklin is now at a crossroad again concerning proposed dwelling units. Currently, there are over 800 units in various stages of development.

Under Construction (Various Stages)

• Weston Woods - 40B Apartments - 280
• Lorraine Metcalf – Subdivision - 4
• Cooks Farm - Condos  - 55
• Lincoln Street - Subdivision - 9
• County Side Estates - Subdivision - 8
• Franklin Heights - Condos - 7
• Winter Gardens- Subdivision - 5

Approved

• Uncas Ave - Subdivision - 18
• Upper Union Street - Subdivision - 7
• East Central Street - Apts. - 7
• Chestnut Street - Over 55 - 10

Before Planning Board

• Maple Street - Subdivision 10

In the Works

• Madeline Village -  40B  =  30-40 Decision by ZBA by end of year  
• Pond Street  - Condos  =  96 Expects to file prior to end of year
• At the end of Dean Ave - Apartments = 250 - Expects to file prior to the end of year
• West Central Street - Condos =  30 ?? Recently rezoned 
• Others units that are currently approved = 20 +/-  or under construction

Total possible Dwelling Units 800 +/-


While not all of these units will be constructed at once, we could see well over 600 units in the next 3 years. Further, we do not know how many other "as of right" dwelling units may be proposed in the next couple of years.

The housing development speaks well to Franklin's quality of life and all the improvements that have happen over the last 15 years under the leadership of the various Town Councils that make Franklin a desirable community to live.

Does the Town Council want to maintain the zoning plan adopted in the Master Plan or make changes to the plan? Providing a clear message to L/D's makes a lot more sense than dealing with zoning on a case-by-case basis. It is hard to say yes to one person and no to the next if you do not have an overall game plan.

I suggest this topic be put on a Council agenda or workshop in the near future. I am happy to answer any questions.

Jeff Nutting

new Cook's Farm being built under the Residential 7 bylaw on RT 140

• Additional info is contained in the full PDF

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Council/October%2019,%202016/R7%20HANDOUTS%201%20AND%202.pdf