230 East Central Still in Limbo

The proposal floated late last year to demolish a single-family home at 230 East Central Street and replace it with a multi-unit apartment building has been looked at multiple times and repeatedly revised and scaled back. And after more discussion and debate at the Planning Board meeting Monday night, the matter has been continued again.

As Attorney Richard Cornetta noted in opening his presentation, the original proposal for 41 apartments in the less-than-an-acre site has been significantly scaled back in response to abutter concerns and questions about the practicality of squeezing so much activity into such a small area.

That building was expected to measure 74 by 198 feet.

“We've gone back to the drawing board a few times, and we're at 69 by 192, or a reduction of 1300 square feet in the building footprint and the total of 3900 square feet total between the three floors -- and we're now proposing 31 one-bedroom units and 2 two-bedroom units,” Cornetta explained.

Cornetta said among the changes made to the plan, instead of asking for a partial waiver on parking requirements, the project now complies with the 1.5 spaces per unit requirement and additional screening for the project has been added.

Other issues involved grading and questions of whether a ‘paper road’ at the back of the property presents any legal impediment to the project.

Once again, multiple abutters expressed great concern with how the neighborhood will be altered and whether some of the “benefits” proposed for the abutters by the developer would satisfy their concern.

One abutter said it isn’t about money – he is a sixth generation Franklinite and just wants what’s right for the neighborhood.

Picking up on the continued objections to the size of the project, Planning Board Member Rick Power asked Cornetta if a further reduction in density might be feasible, “such as 21 units”?

Cornetta said the answer is “theoeretically.”

After considerable further ‘back and forth’ on many project details, the Board voted to continue the matter to their next meeting.