Planning Board — March 4, 2026

What was decided

Ten members were present: Councilman Anbarasan, Theodore Chase, Robert LaCorte, Marc Dancy, Jennifer Rangnow, Meher Rafiq, Charles Brown, Robert Thomas, Sami Shaban and Chairman Orsini. None was absent. Sami Shaban took the oath of office before the meeting.

• Resolutions approved as submitted, each by the same eight votes: Councilman Anbarasan, Dr. Chase, Mr. LaCorte, Mr. Dancy, Ms. Rangnow, Vice Chair Brown, Mr. Thomas and Chairman Orsini; none against:
  • the Amended Affordable Housing Development Fee Ordinance (motion Orsini, second Brown);
  • the Master Plan Re-Examination Report (motion Orsini, second LaCorte). The Board had adopted the 2026 general re-examination on February 18, 2026; see master plan reexamination;
  • the Fourth Round Affordable Housing Obligations (motion Orsini; the draft minutes do not name the seconder). See Fourth Round housing.
• Eric Bernstein appointed Special Counsel to the Board, and the resolution memorialized, each 9-0 (the eight above plus Ms. Rafiq).
• Concore Realty, LLC (PLN-23-00006), a 15,425 sq. ft. warehouse at 403 Elizabeth Avenue, Block 502.02, Lot 9.01, in the B-I zone: carried to April 15, 2026 with no further notice required. No testimony was taken. See warehouses.
• Odin Dhun, LLC (PLN-24-00007), a 16-lot subdivision with 14 buildable lots for single-family homes at 295 Cedar Grove Lane (R-40): approved 9-0 with conditions, including a conservation easement over the 40-foot buffer and a full-movement road with no gate.

No member of the public spoke during general public comment. Adjourned 9:15 p.m.

The re-examination priority list

The agenda attached a “reexamination - priority matrix” for the “Master Plan Action Item Presentation” (video from 1:28:03). The draft minutes record:

• Chairman Orsini said many of the zoning changes, whether low, medium or high priority, were easy and could go to the Council as a package. He said easy wins have value, and proposed bundling changes such as returning preserved properties to the Agricultural (A) or R-40 zones. He listed loading dock depths and sidewalks as easy items, design criteria as harder, and parking-lot drive aisles as lower priority. He called signage a “third rail” better handled application by application. On clustering, he said the standards should be redone because there was “way too much density bonus”, though it need not be the top priority. He also raised indoor recreation in commercial zones and standards for outdoor storage.
• Mark Healey, Planning Director, summarized the approach as a first ordinance of the easy items and some high-priority items that are not too difficult, then the medium items, then the harder ones. He offered to draft the ordinances with the Board’s guidance and suggested an ordinance committee; the Chairman suggested four members, to stay under a quorum.

Records

• Agenda (with the resolutions and priority matrix attached) · Draft minutes (attached to the April 15, 2026 agenda, where they were approved) · Packet
• Video on Granicus (1:42). Granicus publishes no captions for Franklin meetings; this page follows the draft minutes.