Abutters Appeal 444 East Central 40B

Even as Wednesday’s Franklin Town Council meeting was again absorbed with fallout from the long-running and controversial saga of 444 East Central Street, a ‘friendly’ 40B project that was just given final approval by the town and will result in the construction of some 264 rental units on the town’s most traffic-clogged street, a group of abutters have filed suit to reverse the decision.

The say they will behe appeal will be suing the Franklin ZBA, not for financial compensation but to have the project approval overturned. Abutters are the only ones with standing to sue in this particular case, though others can become co-complainants. For questions, email Reneeannelove@gmail.com

In addition, anyone can support the lawsuit via GoFundMe. Those suing are hoping to raise some $25,000 by Friday, Jan. 16.

Wednesday’s Council meeting included the appointment of an individual to the board of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, usually a slam dunk affair concluded in a few minutes. But in this case, the individual being appointed was Mark Minnichelli, a founder of BEN for Franklin (Building Equitable Neighborhoods for Franklin), a vocal advocate of more housing construction, and a consistent supporter of the 444 East Central Street Project. So, the approval ended up becoming a kind of hearing on housing policies, with one Councilor reading from a BEN newsletter and asking Minnichelli if he wrote the article (he did not) or agreed with it (he did) and other also asking him about his views and how he will act when serving on the Trust. There was some confusion, too, with Councilors confusing the Trust with the Municipal Housing Authority, which is a wholly separate organization.

But Minnichelli also got kudos for his deep knowledge of the subject and commitment to the town and in the end was approved unanimously.

A little while later the Council debated whether or how to change the statutory approach that led to the approval of the 444 East Central project, particulalrly the adoption of the “Friendly” 40B policy. A number of approaches were weighed and one that would restrict large 40Bs was adopted.