Planning Board — January 14, 2026

What was decided

The draft minutes record five members present: Theodore Chase, Robert LaCorte, Meher Rafiq, Robert Thomas and Chairman Orsini. Councilman Anbarasan, Jennifer Rangnow, Marc Dancy and Charles Brown were absent.

• Amendment to the Master Plan for the Business & Industry (B-I) zone: adopted, 5-0 (motion Chairman Orsini, second Mr. LaCorte). For: Dr. Chase, Mr. LaCorte, Ms. Rafiq, Mr. Thomas and Chairman Orsini; against: none.
• Recommendation of the B-I zone standards to the Council: 5-0 (motion Chairman Orsini, second Ms. Rafiq), same five members.

The Council later introduced Ord. 4507-26 on May 12, 2026 and adopted it 6-3 on June 9, 2026. The planner’s report read at the June 9 hearing called the Council’s version “more restrictive than the Planning Board’s initial recommendations”. See warehouses and master plan reexamination.

The presentation

The draft minutes record that Dave Roberts of Bright View Engineering, who prepared both the traffic analysis and the reexamination report, presented them.

• Growth. Between 2018 and 2023 there were 37 warehouse applications totalling 7,795,641 square feet, of which 2,677,752 square feet (34%) had been built and occupied.
• Traffic. The study covered 14 intersections chosen by the Township, plus two added after community meetings, with level-of-service projections for approved and under-construction warehouses and for all pending applications. He said some key intersections declined to “F”.
• Three intensity tiers. Low intensity: 150,000 square feet or less with fewer than 1 loading dock per 10,000 square feet. Medium intensity: 150,000 to 400,000 square feet with fewer than 1 dock per 5,000 square feet, and only within one road mile of the I-287 interchanges at Easton Avenue and Weston Canal Road. High intensity (over 400,000 square feet, or more than 1 dock per 5,000 square feet), fulfillment centers and parcel hubs would be prohibited.
• Conditions for both tiers. A floor area ratio of no more than 0.362 per parcel, access to a collector street, no frontage on a scenic roadway, a 100-foot vegetated buffer and a 200-foot building setback from residential zones, and no loading areas facing residential zones or public streets. An applicant who could not meet a condition would need a “D” variance from the Zoning Board, which requires five affirmative votes.
• Planning Director Mark Healey said the draft ordinance also adds buffer, irrigation, tree, architectural and sustainability standards, a noise study next to residential zones, a truck routing plan, a gate management plan and a written statement of compliance.

Asked by Chairman Orsini how the plan addresses traffic, Mr. Roberts said the building-size and loading-dock limits were derived from truck-trip rates published by the Institute of Traffic Engineers.

Public questions and comments

• Dave Robinson of Biltmore Lane, Somerset Run, a member of the B-I steering committee, supported the recommendations. He asked whether the draft limits on hours of operation remained, said the one-mile rule would keep medium-intensity warehouses off a 30-acre Schoolhouse Road parcel, and asked the Council to act quickly.
• Debbie Stewart of Farrington Plaza, asked whether separate owners could combine to exceed the limits. Mr. Roberts said the floor area ratio applies to the parcel however it is subdivided or owned.
• Jan Brandt of Bryant Court, said the Board had recognized about two years earlier that almost 8 million square feet had been proposed and had stopped warehouse development, and that the plan would allow warehouses again with conditions. She said limits do not change the impact of warehouses on a residential community, that trucks still travel local roads to reach the highway, and that zoning policy should not change when developers sue. She asked whether the traffic study counted the B9 warehouse, whether proposed warehouses near planned affordable housing on Davidson Avenue were considered, and what protects residents from air pollution. Mr. Healey said the plan concentrates warehouses near the interchanges, away from residential streets, and that the Board regulates uses but cannot cap their number in an area. The Board attorney said uses must comply with Board of Health rules and anti-idling laws. Mr. Thomas said the current ban does not prevent approvals and that the bar through the Zoning Board was probably lower than it would be under the ordinance.
• Sally Zaharchek of Constitution Way, Canal Walk, asked whether other towns do similar studies. Mr. Roberts said many are defining warehouse types more specifically.
• Norman Roberts of Benjamin Street, asked about traffic enforcement, speed bumps, cameras and signage. Mr. Healey said those are Council matters and that the Master Plan is a recommendation document.
• Suti Shah of Bryant Court, asked whether the one mile is measured by air or by road (by road, and mapped) and how the 0.362 ratio was set (from proportions of developed sites in the Township).
• Kiki Anastasikos of Enclave Circle, Canal Walk, commended the work and asked whether the 200-foot setback with a 100-foot buffer was enough for Canal Walk, and how 16 intersections graded “F” would be fixed. Chairman Orsini said only low-intensity uses could abut residential property.

Records

• Agenda · Packet · Draft minutes (attached to the March 4, 2026 agenda)
• B-I zone reexamination report on the township site
• Video on Granicus (1:40). Granicus publishes no captions for Franklin meetings; this page follows the draft minutes.