Two projects on the books will add about 900 homes to Franklin. Most of that could be prevented if the township council and zoning board simply said "NO".

The first project is due to a COAH (Council On Affordable Housing) requirement for affordable housing. Called the Fair Share Plan, it requires a set number of affordable houses to be built depending on the amount of other recent construction. When given this requirement the planning board came up with three projects. Two of the projects appear to be accepted by everyone but one project, between Bennetts Lane and Veronica Avenue, had two options. The planning board developed an option that would only require 200 homes to be built and no Home Depot. The counsil working with developer presented a plan that includes over 600 homes and a Home Depot.

School costs - Schoor Depalma, an engineering and consulting firm, has calculated that taxes from the commercial portion of the project, mainly the Home Depot, will offset the increase in taxes due to the increase in school children. When challenged however, they admit that they neglected to account for the cost of a new school. The final Schoor Depalma report is not available for inspection and scrutiny. Given that they missed such an important issue as the cost of a new school we are not inclined to accept their results unseen.

The council's plan endangers habitat of a red-shouldered hawk and encroaches on class 1 streams. It is likely that it would violate DEP regulations but that remains to be seen.

The second project is at the corner of Weston-Canal Road and Mettler Lane. It will include a strip mall, single family housing, a three story apartment building and a YMCA. Proponents of the project point to the benefit of having a YMCA near the new high school. Opponents point out that the Y is located far from the more heavily populated areas of the town. There is no nearby public transportation to that area. Street access to the Y and commercial properties is very limited along winding road and of course it will lead to an increase in taxes. The donation of the land and some money by the developer amount to less than ½ a million dollars while the cost of the added children in schools should amount to $1.5M per year. The land in question is currently designated farm/research. Unless they are granted a variance, they can't build.

While a YMCA might be good for Franklin the cost is far too high. If Franklin thinks it that important to have a Y then the one time donation of ½ million dollars would be far less than the $1.5M /year that the full project threatens.

All that needs to happen for these projects to not be built is for the zoning board and council to just say "NO". Stick to the master plan and Franklin will be a better place to live. These two projects benefit the developer and NOT the citzens of Franklin. Developers are the special interest groups of local politics. They are the dominate money contributors in politics.

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