Franklin ECDC Greenlights UMass Study, Hears New 40B Plan

The Franklin Economic Development Committee met Tuesday night with a consequential agenda to work through

A proposal that has been put forth by the UMass Boston Downtown Planning Studio to have students work on Envisioning Downtown Franklin to “Make downtown Franklin a vibrant, accessible, and sustainable hub for the community” got the nod from the Committee.

According to the agenda attachment, Planning Studio I and II is the capstone course for students earning a master’s degree in Urban Planning and Community Development at UMass Boston. The course is designed to combine classroom work with real-world experience so that the students can apply their knowledge and further develop their skills through a planning process that involves research (documents and field), qualitative and/or quantitative analysis, stakeholder and public engagement, communication, and the preparation and presentation of professional-quality deliverables. The area of focus is tinted purple in the image above.

A draft proposed policy developed by Councilor Max Morrongiello, also got considerable attention. The lengthy document aims to rescind the “Friendly 40B” policy adopted a few years ago by the Council, and widely criticized by those who felt it encouraged over development. In its place it proposed a policy that aims to encourage 40B applications but with many limits on project size, impact on the community, etc. The proposal got pushback from fellow Councilor Michael LeBlanc who said he strongly believes encouraging more development is the key to fiscal stability. Town Manager Jamie Hellen also warned that too many conditions would just scare away developers, though he acknowledged that the electorate seemed to have shifted to an “anti-development” stance. Finally, Planning Director Morena Zelaya noted that the whole point of the “Friendly 40B” approach is to encourage developers to come forward and then engage in robust negotiations…

In the end, the EDC agreed to continue discussing the Morrongiello proposal and to try to come up with a consensus document later in the fall.

Zelaya delivered a brief report on the GATRA bus service, currently limited to on-demand rides, and noted that fixed routes appear to be on the horizon.