Planning Board — February 4, 2026
The Planning Board voted 8-0 to form an Open Space Plan Steering Committee to update the 2013 Open Space and Recreation Plan, and spent a work session on the third draft of the 2026 Master Plan reexamination: cluster zoning, outdoor storage, sidewalks and a possible rail trail.
- Development
- Environment
Meeting recording
Recording plays on the township archive
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Worth watching
The Planning Director proposes a committee to update the 2013 Open Space and Recreation Plan, led by the Township's land preservation staff; approved 8-0.
Same moment on the township archiveThe Board goes through the third draft: cluster zoning, outdoor storage, building height, sidewalks, a rail trail and other items for a priority list.
Same moment on the township archive
What happened
What was decided
The draft minutes record eight members present: Councilman Anbarasan, Theodore Chase, Robert LaCorte, Jennifer Rangnow, Meher Rafiq, Charles Brown, Robert Thomas and Chairman Orsini. Marc Dancy was absent. Councilman Anbarasan took the oath of office.
- Open Space Plan Steering Committee: created, 8-0 (motion Chairman Orsini, second Mr. LaCorte). For: Councilman Anbarasan, Dr. Chase, Mr. LaCorte, Ms. Rangnow, Ms. Rafiq, Vice Chair Brown, Mr. Thomas and Chairman Orsini; against: none.
- Resolutions memorialized: Baldwas Realty, LLC (PLN-22-00009), an extension of time, 6-0; NPH Real Estate, LLC (PLN-24-00005), the shopping center at 390 Davidson Avenue, 6-0.
The Open Space Plan Steering Committee
The draft minutes record Chairman Orsini saying the review of the Master Plan had found one element not addressed since 2013. Planning Director Mark Healey said most elements (historic, farmland preservation, trails, housing) had been updated since 2016, but the Open Space and Recreation Plan was out of date, and that Tara Kenyon, who is in charge of the Township’s land preservation, would lead the update. The proposed membership was two members each from the Planning Board, the Open Space Committee and the Recreation Advisory Committee, one each for trails and agriculture, with the Director of Recreation and the Planning Director as non-voting advisory members. Mr. Thomas asked whether the Zoning Board should be represented; Mr. Healey said he did not think it needed to be. See open space and farmland.
Work session: the Master Plan reexamination
Mr. Healey said the reexamination was on its third draft, with comments from members and Ms. Kenyon, and that two hearings would be held on February 18: the reexamination and amendments to the Fair Share Plan. Items discussed, as the draft minutes record them:
- Cluster zoning. Mr. Healey said the cluster ordinances were contradictory and out of date and that the agricultural cluster option’s tripled density should be eliminated, with a more modest bonus considered.
- Outdoor storage in industrial areas: whether and how to permit it, with screening and containment.
- Building height measured from average finished grade, where homes are built on mounded lots because of a high water table; Mr. Healey called it a high priority.
- Sidewalks. Requiring sidewalks along frontages, with criteria for relief; Vice Chair Brown asked for a report on the Sidewalk Fund.
- Hamilton Street parking, possibly metered lots funded in part by payments in lieu of parking.
- A rail trail on the defunct East Millstone Branch line, and trails on pipeline rights-of-way.
- Public safety and cultural assets elements, raised by Vice Chair Brown.
- Open space and farmland plans: resiliency to climate hazards, habitat protection, and the farmland preservation formula, from Ms. Kenyon’s comments.
The draft minutes record no public in the chamber. Adjourned 9:19 p.m.
Records
- Agenda · Packet · Draft minutes (attached to the April 1, 2026 agenda)
- Video on Granicus (1:45). Granicus publishes no captions for Franklin meetings; this page follows the draft minutes.