Zoning Board of Appeals

Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Town of Franklin Zoning Board of Appeals Thursday, September 25, 2025 Meeting Minutes Chair Bruce Hunchard called the above-captioned meeting held in the Town Council Chambers, second floor of the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 E. Central Street, and online via the Zoom platform to order this date at 7:30 PM. Members in attendance: Bruce Hunchard, Chair; Robert Acevedo, Vice Chair; Ginelle Lang, Clerk; Meghan Whitmore, Associate; Joseph Halligan, Associate. Members absent: Also in attendance: Casey Thayer, Administrative Assistant. This meeting is being recorded and televised and is being conducted as an in person and as a remote access Zoom virtual meeting. The Zoom meeting link and the Zoom meeting call-in number are provided on the agenda. 33 Elm Street - G. David Iverson, Trustee Abutters: None. 7:30 p.m. Applicant is seeking to construct a single-family home that has 123.92’ of frontage where 200’ is required and with right side yard setback of 26.5’ where 40’ is required. The building permit is denied without a Variance from the ZBA. Applicants present: Attorney Edward Cannon (via Zoom) on behalf of the applicant. Chair Hunchard read aloud a letter received from the applicant’s attorney Edward Cannon which indicated they came to terms with completing the engineering work concerning drainage that the Zoning Board of Appeals requested at the last meeting about three months ago, but now the engineer has to complete the work; they would like to continue to October 23, 2025. Attorney Cannon said what Chair Hunchard read sums it up perfectly. The applicant is working to get the information the ZBA would like and would like this item to be continued to October 23, 2025. Motion made by Ginelle Lang to continue the public hearing to October 23, 2025, at 7:30 PM. Motion seconded by Robert Acevedo. Vote: Unanimous by the Board. Parcels 270-28, 038 and 39 West Central Street and Panther Way Abutters: Mr. Joseph Roy, 16 Schofield Drive; Ms. Cindy Stucchi, 10 Applewood Lane. 7:35 p.m. Applicant is seeking to conduct earth removal in excess of 1,000 cubic yards. The building permit is denied without a Special Permit from the ZBA. Applicants present: Mr. Rick Goodreau of United Consultants and Mr. Brad Chaffee, applicant Camford Property Group. Mr. Goodreau said they have been working with the other land use boards particularly Conservation Commission and the Planning Board on details relative to project design such as stormwater issues that were raised by the peer review consultant. He said those have been rectified, and the Conservation 1 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Commission has issued an order of conditions, and the Planning Board has issued and approval for the project. They will give the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) an update as to some of the changes that have occurred. He said changes were made on stormwater, tree planting, parking layouts, and location of certain site features. He said the project has proposed a reduction from 49 units to 44 units. There is a driveway that was eliminated. He said they relocated some of the housing units in the back to allow for some additional space for parking within the driveway for visitors. The original application requested earth removal of about 104,500 cu. yd. They have reduced that to 98,882 cu. yd. due to variance changes reflected in the revised site plans submitted. Mr. Chaffee confirmed hours of operation are 7 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Saturday, but they mostly work Monday through Friday. He said they are not planning to do any crushing at this time. Chair Hunchard responded to an audience member’s question and said the applicant will be building a Senior Village. Mr. Goodreau confirmed the clear-cutting areas and said the clearing limits have not really changed. The cul de sac is in the same spot. Chair Hunchard said if they decide they want to do crushing they will have to come back to the ZBA. Mr. Goodreau provided Chair Hunchard with copies of the approved decisions from Conservations Commission and Planning Board for the record. Building Commissioner Gus Brown confirmed the applicant needs a building permit before they start, and they need to give him reports weekly from the engineer. He asked the applicant if they will be pulling the building permits before the earth removal or during. Mr. Chaffee said typically they would do the site work first to get everything set up. Chair Hunchard recommended getting the building permits. Mr. Goodreau said there will be a construction apron at the entrance of the project. If necessary, sweeping the road would be one of the conditions. Mr. Acevedo asked about dust mitigation. Chair Hunchard said this is where the crushing comes in. He said another project did crushing, and it made dust on the neighborhood. He said there is only so much you can do with dust. Mr. Goodreau said they will spray the road. Mr. Chaffee said typically they will have a water truck there and probably do it every other day depending on the weather. Mr. Goodreau said they have the detention basin located and explained the location of the erosion control sock. Ms. Lang asked if there were any requirements in the approvals by the Planning Board and Conservation Commission that were not reflected in the plans and documents the ZBA has. Mr. Goodreau said the Conservation Commission put in some standard conditions of approval; the Planning Board put some general conditions which he noted. Ms. Lang asked about the potential for blasting and the concern about monitoring if blasting is done. Mr. Chaffee said if they do blast there are state regulations that they have to abide by. Ms. Lang noted some concerns from abutters that were less on the foundations but more on the utilities that were an issue on a past project. Mr. Chaffee confirmed they did some blasting on the first project, and there were no complaints. Chair Hunchard noted the problems must have occurred from a different project. Mr. Brown said the amount of distance that you have to ask people if they want a survey is 300 ft.; however, people within 500 ft. up to .5 mile feel it, and we get phone calls. He said he would like to be able to call Mr. Chaffee right away if they get any calls. He said it does get people riled up a little bit. He said whatever you can do to help with that. Mr. Acevedo asked if there was any concern about shutting down Panther Way regarding school in the morning and in the afternoon. Mr. Chaffee said they are aware of the morning and afternoon for schools and do try to make a conscious effort to let the students go for those times. Mr. Joseph Roy, 16 Schofield Drive, asked about water supply as that seems to be a big concern to people with a new development. He said they are losing a lot of pressure in the water, and water taxes are going higher. He said it seems like they are having a problem with water supply and asked is building 44 more units going to affect us. 2 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Water and Sewer Superintendent Doug Martin (via Zoom) said we are currently in a water ban as every year we have the conservation restriction per our water management act permit. It does not mean that we do not have enough water. We do. He said he has given presentations before and explained how much water they are allowed to take out and what they do take out. He said recently, due to the drought conditions and two major sources are offline due to repairs, our tanks did drop a little which may be why people saw some lower pressure, but we were able to recover. He said everything should be back to normal. Every time a development comes through, we evaluate it and determine if we can serve it and will it be a drain on the existing system. Mr. Roy said he is hearing that there is a pressure problem and asked about supply. Mr. Martin said they have rebounded, and there is no pressure issue. Chair Hunchard said the only problem he would see for this project on Panther Way is to pump the water for fire as the main is down at the street, and it has to go to the top of the hill. Mr. Martin said everything in that area including the condo project has a pump at the bottom which is privately owned to pump all that up the hill for the units. He said this development will be on that cusp; he has not looked at these plans regarding what they are doing to maintain pressure. Mr. Halligan confirmed it is true that Franklin uses about 1 million gallons a day less than we did five years ago even with all the development. Mr. Martin said yes that is correct. Ms. Cindy Stucchi, 10 Applewood Lane in Chestnut Ridge, said she moved in a few years ago and taxes, water bills, everything has skyrocketed. She has noticed a huge difference with all of that. She is against Stobbart’s for a lot of reasons such as traffic and water. She noted everyone’s taxes are going to go up because of all this. She said she was talking about water in general. She said that does not seem logical with more people and less water usage. Motion made by Ginelle Lang to close the public hearing. Motion seconded by Robert Acevedo. Vote: Unanimous by the Board. Motion made by Robert Acevedo to grant a Special Permit to construct earth removal in excess of 1,000 cubic yards, for Parcels 270-28, 038 and 39 West Central Street and Panther Way, not to exceed 99,000 cubic yards, with the conditions that the hours be set for 7 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Saturday, the construction trucks/traffic make right-hand turns only onto Panther Way towards West Central Street, no rock crushing on site, weekly reports to the building commissioner with the amounts removed if there is any activity during the week, and a building permit before the start of any excavation, as shown on the drawing titled “Site Plan Panther Way” prepared by United Consultants Inc., dated December 13, 2024, last revised with revision number 2 on August 8, 2025. Seconded by Ginelle Lang. Roll Call Vote: Unanimous by the Board. 444 East Central Street – TAG Central LLC Abutters: All abutters’ names/addresses are listed within the meeting minutes below. Mr. Halligan recused himself. 7:40 p.m. Applicant is seeking a building permit to construct a 264-unit multi-family development. The building permit is denied without a Comprehensive Permit from the ZBA. Applicants present: Mr. A.J. Alevizos of TAG Central LLC; Mr. Peter Alevizos of TAG Central LLC; Mr. Carlton Quinn, Civil Engineer of Allen & Major Associates; and Mr. Braden Drypolcher of Dry Landscape Architecture (via Zoom). Mr. Peter Alevizos provided each ZBA member with documents. 3 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Chair Hunchard noted the applicant is going over the new site plan tonight, and there will not be a lot of discussion on engineering because we just got some renderings today. He said a balloon test was done yesterday. He explained the balloon test process to determine the height of the building. He noted a traffic engineer attended a past hearing. Audience member asked if there was a paper copy of the rendering. Mr. Alevizos said he had three or four extra copies. Ms. Thayer confirmed it was already posted to the zoning webpage. Mr. Alevizos said he would give a brief overview of the alternative site plan that they submitted this morning. He said they made some major concessions in this new plan including both height and unit reductions to increase the buffer area on the east side and minimize impacts for our residential abutters to the east. He said in total they now have 254 units which is 10 units less than the original proposal of 264. He said they maintain parking at 1.57 spaces per unit. The west side of the property has remained unchanged. He showed the new site plan on the screen and reviewed changes. Building 4 has changed from four stories to three stories. They maintained the flat roof design which also limits the height of the building. They also increased the buffer area at the eastern edge. He said they took a unit cut to minimize the footprint of the building, and they added a costly retaining wall. He said they saved 30 linear feet and valuable mature vegetation. He said from the balloon study yesterday, they are proposing to plant a healthy program of vegetation buffer species to fill in the gaps of the area. Mr. Drypolcher discussed the enhanced vegetation buffer and what minimizing that limit of work does to the proposed buffer on the eastern border. He showed some slides and reviewed the plans. He said they will maximize the existing buffer. He said they will talk about the existing vegetation and canopy that they are going to preserve with minimizing the limit of work. He said the strategy depends on the retaining wall and to stay out of the portion to the east that goes up to the abutters on Red Gate. He said they will enhance the existing screening and are looking to fill canopy gaps where views and sight lines open up towards the abutters in layering in plantings within the already pre-productive screening. He said the outcome is privacy for abutters, strengthening the ecological continuity of the site, and providing more naturalistic and resilient visual appealing buffers. He showed a plan on how that would look. He pointed out the retaining wall on the plan. He said they are still providing a 6 ft. vinyl fence that snakes through the existing site. He pointed out on the plans the old and new limit of work. He showed the vinyl screen fence image on the slide. Mr. Alevizos said he has proposed a plan in coordination with the ZBA that presents the least number of units of any of the alternatives, the shortest building height, the largest buffer, and the least impact to abutters. Mr. Acevedo said in looking at the new plan, they have the parking behind building 4 where the parking garages are and asked is that where the field is. Mr. Alevizos said that is where the field is in that corner. Ms. Lang said on the tree buffer, is it intended to be a year-round green lush wall. Mr. Alevizos said mostly deciduous trees are there now. Mr. Drypolcher said they are proposing 27 evergreen/conifer trees which will be strategically placed in the canopy gaps. He showed his plan and explained the survey markers Allen & Major put out. He showed portions that will have more evergreen plantings to block views and fill in. He reiterated the 6 ft. fence along the property line. Ms. Lang said the applicant said that this scheme shows major concessions to the application. She noted that after lots of months, this is what she would consider a starting point because the reviews by the Planning Board and Town Council when they originally gave support to this project, were with the understanding that there would be three stories and a significant buffer, and that is now what we are seeing. This is a starting point in terms of site layout. Ms. Whitmore said she likes the new changes to this plan. 4 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Mr. Richard Neal, 43 Indian Lane, said his children benefitted from the public schools. He praised the fire and police departments. He noted he votes in confidence that those elected will lead and serve in the best interest of the community and citizens. The town has grown. He noted increases in tax revenue and the decrease in required resources have not resulted in reductions in property taxes. He said this is an acceptable reality of town governance. He has tried to follow the debate on 444 East Central Street. He assumes there will continue to be increases in building and population and added stresses to infrastructure. He said what is compelling to him is that multiple waivers and variances of town codes and standards must be approved for this development. If that is true, it feels that this project is flawed from the outset. He said should these standards now be obsolete; they should not be spontaneously set aside in this ad hoc manner. They should be reviewed and revised and discarded by a formal town prescribed process. It seems to be a matter of principle that this project cannot be approved under the current codes that were designed to promote and protect the town and the citizens. Mr. Stephen Malloy, 19 Russet Hill Road, said on the balloon test, did any of the neighbors know about it. Chair Hunchard said some neighbors were there. Mr. Malloy said at 254 units the project is still too big. He noted the traffic and said it will diminish the quality of life for all those who live and access East Central Street. The size and scope should be reconsidered. Mr. Gene Grella, 36 Red Gate Lane (via Zoom), noted the balloon test. He said he agrees with Ms. Lang’s comments that we have finally got there with the three stories and buffer. He asked Mr. Martin about water from the last public hearing. He said we keep talking that we have plenty of water, but the state prohibits us from using the water and why this is. Mr. Martin explained the history of why the state limits the amount of water we can use. He explained the town has both registered water and permitted water. Registered is ours and permitted is what changes and is in the water management act. He said they are in the last five years of the town’s current 20-year permit. The state dictates what towns have to do for conservation restrictions. He said Franklin has one of the stricter ones, but all towns are heading in that direction. He talked about if there were no restrictions he thinks we do have enough water, but he explained not for all the lawn irrigation that happens. Mr. Grella said we have plenty of water because we conserve, and we need to continue to conserve to maintain that. Mr. Larry Shluger, 9 Applewood Lane, said at the last meeting the Town Council chair spoke and said since this project has drastically changed from what they approved, they would have unanimously not approved it. He said why has this not been referred back to the Town Council since the project is substantially different. He asked about water and said he finds it hard to believe that 264 units are going to use less water than if they were single-family homes. He would like that proved as a fact. Chair Hunchard said the last few big projects requested 1.74 parking spaces per unit. The only way the applicant could have done that is to raise the buildings up another floor and reconfigure them to get close to the 1.75. Now they have come back to the original submittal with a three-story building on the easterly side. He said regarding water, Mr. Martin is a professional who works for the town. Chair Hunchard explained that there was a piece of land on Grove Street, and they approved 330 units last year. It was proposed because it was an industrial piece of land, 32 acres; it looked beautiful with apple orchards. The land was for sale for 25 years and did not sell because you could not use it for industrial use because it had some wetland fingers that ran through it. So, people who want to build 40Bs look for these types of properties and see how many units they can get on it. He said this property is zoned commercial, and it is the most environmentally sensitive site the ZBA has ever had to deal with. It is still under Conservation Commission. He said this is the next best use for it according to these applicants; everyone has a right to propose a development. He said if the ZBA turns it down flat, it can be appealed, and 9 out of 10 times, the housing court agrees with the developer. He said the ZBA is trying to do the best they can. He said the ZBA has not made a decision. He said all the projects get waivers which is why they are here. 5 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Ms. Carrie Landry, 18 Moore Avenue, said the traffic problem on Rt. 140 is a big problem. She said it is the best town she has lived in. Over the past few years, the building of apartments has greatly driven up the traffic on Rt. 140 so badly. She said people are using Moore Avenue as a cut through now, and it is literally a speedway. She said you are killing the vibe in Franklin with all the building you have approved over the past few years. Ms. Cindy Stucchi, 10 Applewood Lane, said they are already worried as there is a cut through, and their road is private. She asked who is going to watch that for them regarding their private road. She said who is going to have to pay for their private road. She said taxes are going up because there are going to be a lot of school children over there, and we already voted no on the override. She said all the traffic is going to be horrendous. Chair Hunchard said they could put a gate. Ms. Stucchi said they should not have to put a gate. Audience member said they have inquired and the fire department does not really want that. Mr. Grella said they are all asking for the ZBA to say no, and if it goes through appeal, they will deal with it then. Mr. John Johnson Jr., 23 Northern Spy Road, asked what Mr. Grella’s questions are. Mr. Johnson said the traffic on Rt. 140 is like getting off of the cape. He said he moved here to have a great experience in Franklin. Mr. Gene Grella, 36 Red Gate Lane (via Zoom), said when this started, Chair Hunchard sent him the ZBA handbook on 40Bs. It says in the handbook that the HAC will not overturn local denial of a comprehensive permit if the city or town meets one of the statutory minimums or another safe harbor under the chapter 40B regulations. He said based on this, we can deny this permit, and it will not be overturned. He said there were 30 waivers and asked for an updated list of waivers. Chair Hunchard said we have not talked about the waivers yet. Mr. Grella asked about the letter that was published dealing with the storage tank. In the letter in says in the town bylaw that we are not supposed to have storage tanks in zone 2 unless it meets certain criteria. He said storage tank is self-defined. Mr. Quinn said the letter was issued to Joe who would review it and say if he agrees with it or not. Mr. Grella asked if the Conservation Commission would look at that also. Mr. Quinn provided an explanation of what the state regulation refers to. Mr. Grella asked the ZBA to review the bylaw. Mr. Alevizos said the holding tank is not required to mitigate the impacts; they have other options. Resident who lives off of Jordan Road said he has been a resident for 28 years. He said they have seen developments over the past years. He said he questions the rapidness of how fast Franklin is growing especially around the traffic. He said he knows a traffic study was done, but getting onto Rt. 140 from Jordan Road is almost impossible. He does not see how this project makes it any better. He noted school buses stop on Rt. 140 as well. He asked the ZBA to take a look at that again. He said with all the building being done, what are the stresses on our public safety. He asked what is built into the designs of these projects for public safety. He noted the failed override. He said as you look at these projects, take into account the totality of the impact to the town. Ms. Catherine Villano, 1 Crestwood Drive, said she moved there 10 years ago, and it was a much quieter corner then than now. She discussed the location and said people use it as a cut through already. She said if any of the ZBA members who are overly supportive of this project lived in close proximity to this, they may not be in favor of it either. She said it is not going to help home values. She said she understands growth, but it has to be in the guidance of sensibility and if there are so many variances, it makes you wonder. She asked is this the right step for Franklin at this time. She said in good conscience we cannot say that it is. 6 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Ms. Lori Macaskill, 56 Stewart Street, said she wrote to Representative Jeff Roy about this project and asked him for help. His answer was thank you for your note. At this juncture, given that Franklin is above the 10 percent of the 40Bs, the state will not have any input whether the project moves forward. It is a Friendly 40B which leaves the negotiations entirely in the hands of the town. Should anything change in that regard, I will weigh in on any involved state agencies. In response to Chair Hunchard, Town Administrator Jamie Hellen (via Zoom) said he mentioned at the last Town Council meeting new growth was a preliminary figure for this year’s fiscal year; new growth was short of the benchmark that was approved in the budget. He said they are two months away from the tax rate hearing in December. He announced that the preliminary assessment is about $271,000 less in new growth than was budgeted. If that number of $1.1 million which was in the budget for this fiscal year is not met, then we might have to make some other budget adjustments or cuts down the line. He said he has mentioned at budget meetings many times we had record breaking new growth numbers three to seven years ago, and we have lost probably about $.75 million in tax base because that new growth number has declined over the last couple of years. He noted some of the factors for this. He noted that not all growth comes from just new construction. Mr. Grella said Mr. Hellen had said you either have to grow or pass overrides. Mr. Hellen said that is correct. Person who did not identify themselves said she wanted to put a spotlight on Ms. Lang when she said this is just a start as that really resonated with her. She said they have been talking about the project for a long time. She was happy to see the project has been amended, but it is really back to the original plan, and many residents did not like it then either. She said removing 10 units is nice, but it is still way too big. She said she recommends to TAG LLC condos or low rent apartments with an option to buy, so we can have people invest in the community. Her preference is not apartments. She said in Westwood she saw an advertisement that the TAG buildings across the way are advertising a lottery for low-income apartments. She asked if the lottery can just be open to Franklin residents. Chair Hunchard said he does not think so. Mr. John Macaskill, 56 Stewart Street, said we understand the town went through an override and denied it twice. He asked how much income is going to be generated from the town from the tax rates from these buildings going up versus what it is going to cost us for police, fire, schools. He said he wants to know what it is going to cost the town beyond the what is generated from this project. Mr. Domenick Dileo, 5 High Ridge Circle, said he appreciates the balloon test. He asked for a 3D model for this. He asked has the project met the similar soils provision mandated by the State of Mass DEP. Mr. Quinn said he did not know what this is, and he has worked on dozens of 40Bs. Mr. Brown said regarding single-family homes over the past five years, there are 67 houses. For multi units there were 532 units in five years; that is anything over a two-family home. He said he only gets the information when they are applying for permits. Chair Hunchard noted there are 60 units on Pleasant Street which is a truly affordable project and 50 units approved behind the high school for senior housing. Mr. Brown said Dean Avenue was in 2019, and it was approximately 275 units. Chair Hunchard said there are 104 units across the street which is 100 percent occupied. There are 14 condos on the corner of Lewis Street. The other building has 32. The one on Lincoln Street was approved 20 years ago. Mr. Stephen Huston, 10 Wampanoag Drive, asked about the process from here to a final vote. Chair Hunchard said the applicant just came up with a new design. It is basically back to the original design. They are still in Conservation Commission. Chair Hunchard explained the Conservation Commission process. He said he is curious about how the applicant will get through Conservation Commission without getting the waivers from the ZBA first. He noted that the ZBA cannot consider what it is going to cost for schools; that cannot be put in the decision. 7 Tel: (508) 553-4856 Fax: (508) 520-4906 Audience member reiterated Representative Jeff Roy said the state does not have any voice in this. Mr. Grella commented about new growth. Franklin is not against new growth. He said like former Town Administrator Jeff Nutting stated when he spoke, we have had enough now. That is what the people of Franklin are saying now; we have had enough for now, and let’s stop this. This Friendly 40B process is not needed now as we are above limits, and that is what you are hearing from the people. Person who did not identify themselves said if this is going to be continued to October 23, how is the ZBA going to keep the residents informed about what is going on so we know how to fight back. Chair Hunchard said we are still waiting for the applicant to go through Conservation Commission, and we have not had a discussion on the waivers yet. He explained there is a time limit of 180 days from when we have the first public hearing. He said these things can carry on. Mr. Brown said all information we receive is put on the website as soon as possible. Motion made by Ginelle Lang to continue the public hearing to October 23, 2025, at 7:40 PM. Motion seconded by Robert Acevedo. Vote: Unanimous by the Board. General Business Meeting Minutes: August 28, 2025 Motion made by Robert Acevedo to approve the Meeting Minutes as presented for August 28, 2025. Motion seconded by Ginelle Lang. Vote: Unanimous by the Board. Motion made by Ginelle Lang to adjourn the In-Person/Remote Access Zoom Virtual Meeting. Motion seconded by Robert Acevedo. Vote: Unanimous by the Board. Meeting adjourned at 9:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, Judith Lizardi Recording Secretary Signature: _______________________________Date: ____________________________ 8