LETTER: We Have Always Had the Power

To the Editor:

Yesterday, after consulting with an attorney from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, I learned that the Town of Franklin and our Town Council have always had the power to withdraw our application from the LIP program for the project at 444 East Central Street (former location of Stobbart’s).
For months, we’ve been asking the Town Council to take a vote and rescind their support for the project, yet no action has been taken.
Tom Mercer sent a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals, signed by all nine Town Council members, stating that they did not support the current project because it had changed from the original version they approved. This didn’t kill the project—it merely helped to prolong it.
Had Mercer used the same argument to withdraw our application from the state LIP (Local Initiative Program), the developer would have been forced to apply independently (as was the case with Grove Street). They would have had to obtain approval again at the state level, after which the project would return to our ZBA.
If the project were to come back before our ZBA, the Board could invoke something called “Safe Harbor.” This provision of the 40B law states that within 15 days of opening the public hearing, a project can be rejected with no right of appeal. This is something that should have been done originally when the ZBA public meeting opened, but the Town Administration claims to have mishandled the Safe Harbor procedure—oops—so they were forced to continue.
So why isn’t the application being withdrawn? That’s a question we’ve been asking for months now, and still without a good answer.
Last night, we heard the developer’s requested waivers. The developer and his representatives struggled to explain many of them, but in short, they’re asking for a complete exemption from all Franklin stormwater and wetlands bylaws. This is materially different from what the Town Council originally approved, so we have a legitimate reason to withdraw our application. I would also argue that during the public hearing process, new information regarding stormwater, the public well, and the lack of an adequate sewer pumping station has since come to light.
And yes—there’s all of you. 1,300 people signed an online petition opposing the project. 1,300 people responded to an Observer survey in which over 91% opposed it. And this week, I submitted a petition with 896 signatures from residents across town who also oppose it.
Given the facts that have emerged and the strong public opposition surrounding this project, you would think the Town would want to listen to its residents and vote to withdraw our application. At Wednesday night’s Town Council meeting, when Councilor Deb Pellegri asked Town Administrator Jamie Hellen if there was any way to get out of this project, Mr. Hellen replied, “Not with the LIP, not with the LIP.”
That statement by Mr. Hellen would imply that everything I’ve said about withdrawing our application and forcing the developer to reapply is incorrect. If that is the case, I call upon Mr. Hellen—through our Town ZBA attorney, Mark Bobrowski—to explain it to me and the 896 residents who signed the petition, in a public forum, why we can not withdraw.

Gene Grella

Franklin resident