ZBA Hears from Neighbors of St. John's

The Franklin Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) met via Zoom Thursday evening, Jan. 19, at 7:30 pm.

The first matter discussed, one that brought dozens of citizens on to the call, was 237 Pleasant Street, where-St. John’s Episcopal Church of Franklin and The Community Builders Inc. are seeking a building permit to construct a 64-unit multi-family development. And the go-ahead has to come from ZBA.

They said the town DPW had assured them there was adequate sewer capacity.

The first part of the 30 minutes, or so, that the subject occupied the board, involved the Community Builders team briefly recapping their plans and responses they had developed to earlier questions.

They also presented a traffic study that they said showed minimal impacts from the proposed development. In part this was reflective of the fact that the road has recorded very few collisions in recent years.

A consultant stated that they had counted turning movements at the intersections in the vicinity of the project and did a 72 hours bi-directional count of traffic on pleasant street. They projected volumes in 2029 and estimated that with the project generating 486 trips per day, it will only mean a three percent increase in traffic on the street.

When the hearing opened up to the public, there were comments about the limited site lines coming out of Padden Estates, which enters Pleasant very close to where traffic will be interesting from the proposed development. Another individual expressed concern that both the church and the housing project will have in and out driveways adjacent to each other on each side of the property – potentially creating confusion and conflict just within the property itself.

With some of their documentation and data still in the works, the applicant asked for and received a continuance to Feb. 2.

The other matters dealt with, were:

• 55 Daniels Street- Shoshanah Graupen was seeking to construct an addition with an accessory dwelling unit. After a brief discussion, this project was approved.
• 261 Daniels Street- Kyle and Kelle Bertram were seeking to construct a single-family home that is 20.5’ from the right-side yard setback where 40’ is required and 21.0’ from the left side yard setback where 40’ is required. This essentially replaces and existing structure. This was approved.
• 97 Miller Street- Thomas Burkhart has constructed a 10’ x 12’ deck that is 33.4’ from the left side yard setback where 40’ is required. The applicant requested to withdraw the application without prejudice with the intent of resubmitting. This the ZBA approved.
• 78 Conlyn Ave-Reidar Davies was seeking to construct a 24’ x 30’ attached garage that is 11.0’ from the right-side yard setback where 20’ is required. Applicant is also seeking to increase the impervious coverage in a WRD to 27% where 15% is allowed. There were quite a few questions and comments regarding this project from the board, including some concerns expressed over “movable” sheds also on the property. However, the board did ultimately green light this, as well

The board closed their meeting after approving minutes from their prior meeting.