About LocalWhy
Franklin's public record, explained
LocalWhy explains what Franklin Township, New Jersey decides and why, from the record itself: agenda packets, minutes, resolutions, ordinances, court filings and meeting video. It follows the decisions residents care about across the township, issue by issue.
What LocalWhy is
LocalWhy is a non-partisan publisher. It does not take sides on what the township should decide, endorse candidates, or act for any party to a hearing or lawsuit. It sets out what was decided, what each side argued, and what happens next, with a source on every claim. This site does not solicit donations of any kind.
Reach LocalWhy at info@localwhy.org. Corrections are welcome and are made on the record.
How Franklin is governed
Franklin is chartered under the Faulkner Act as a Council-Manager municipality (Plan D). The nine-member Township Council is the Mayor, elected townwide, three at-large members and five ward members, all for staggered four-year terms. The Mayor presides and votes but has no executive powers; the Council each January chooses a Deputy Mayor. The Township Manager, appointed by the Council, runs the departments and prepares the budget. Land-use applications go to the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The Council meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday (once a month in July, August and December) in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 475 DeMott Lane, Somerset. Each speaker gets one five-minute turn during Public Discussion, on any subject, and ordinance hearings are limited to the ordinance.
Agendas, packets, Council minutes and video are on the township's Granicus archive, which indexes each meeting's video by agenda item. Planning and Zoning Board minutes are not posted there, and Granicus publishes no captions.
What is open now
Four of the issues in motion. Every issue is on its own page.
License-plate cameras
Contract in placeThe Council awarded the police department's license-plate reader contract to Flock Group Inc. on October 14, 2025 (Resolution 25-436), not to exceed $339,000 over four years and paid from a state grant. Residents have raised the cameras at four Council meetings since August 2026; no resolution to end, suspend or revisit the contract is on the record.
The housing plan
Approved, not certifiedUnder its April 2025 settlement in the Fourth Round case, Franklin agreed to plan for 659 new affordable homes in 2025–2035 and to rehabilitate 268. The court approved the amended plan on February 9, 2026 and the Council adopted the zoning in February and March; the court has not yet issued a Certification of Compliance.
Warehouses
Ordinance in forceOrdinance 4507-26, adopted 6–3 on June 9, 2026, caps permitted warehouses in the Business and Industry zone at 150,000 square feet, keeps them within one road mile of an I-287 interchange and at least 500 feet from residential zones, prohibits fulfillment centers and removes data centers as a permitted use in the zone.
Roads and paving
Paving under wayBond Ordinance 4504-26 sets $4,650,000 for roads and sidewalks in 2026. On October 13 the Manager reported a 36% rise in asphalt costs affecting paving projects.
How we cover Franklin
Every page rests on the record: Council minutes and packets, ordinances, court and state filings, and the township's meeting video. Where the record is silent or conflicts, we say so rather than fill the gap. Where only a newspaper has reported something, we name the paper.
We publish every public fact in the record, in election season as at any other time. When we report how members voted we give the whole roll call, and where members disagreed on the record we give each side's stated reason. We do not assign credit or blame.
How to get involved
- 01
Show up. The Township Council meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday; the Planning Board on the first and third Wednesday and the Zoning Board of Adjustment on the first and third Thursday, both at 7:30 p.m. Dates move, so check the township's Board Meetings calendar before you go. Public comment is your right, and it is on the record.
- 02
Read the primary sources. Our meeting summaries and the township documents are in one place so you do not have to take our word for anything.
- 03
Get the updates. We send a short note when something actually happens — a vote, a filing, a hearing date. Not more often than that.
- 04
Tell us what we got wrong or missed. A date, a vote, a document that should be here. Write to info@localwhy.org.
Stay with the story
The decisions are made in public meetings you can attend.