Planning Board — June 17, 2026

What was decided

Five members were present: Theodore Chase, Robert LaCorte, Charles Brown, Robert Thomas and Chairman Orsini. Marc Dancy, Jennifer Rangnow, Meher Rafiq, Councilman Anbarasan and Sami Shaban were absent.

• Ord. 4509-26 (to implement recommendations of the 2026 re-examination), referred back by the Council with no changes: found not inconsistent with the Master Plan, 5-0 (motion Orsini, second Thomas; Dr. Chase, Mr. LaCorte, Vice Chair Brown, Mr. Thomas and Chairman Orsini). A resolution recommending it for adoption was approved by the same five votes. See master plan reexamination.
• Ord. 4510-26 (planning and zoning fees and escrow deposits): approved 5-0 (motion Orsini, second LaCorte; same five), with a memorializing resolution by the same vote.
• County of Somerset (PLN-26-00003) resolution, the Canal Road subdivision adding a lot to open space: memorialized 3-0 (Dr. Chase, Mr. Thomas and Chairman Orsini). See open space and farmland.
• Suydam Associates, FLP (PLN-26-00004) resolution, 4-0.
• Draft cluster subdivision and lot size averaging changes forwarded to the Council, “most likely through the Land Use Committee of Council”, 5-0 (motion Orsini, second Brown; same five). The Council introduced them as Ord. 4517-26 on August 11 and adopted it October 13, 2026.

No member of the public came forward during public comment. Adjourned 8:01 p.m.

The fee ordinance

The draft minutes record that Planning Director Mark Healey said the fees and escrow deposits were last reviewed about 15 years ago. The increases in application and review fees paid by developers are meant to cover the township’s staff and consultant costs, and were compared with nearby towns. Zoning permits paid by homeowners, now $25 to $50, would be $50 across the board, or $100 for a new house or commercial building. Engineering review fees for homes, additions, pole barns and pools would rise, mainly where impervious coverage grows by 1,000 sq. ft. or more, when stormwater review applies.

The cluster subdivision draft

The draft minutes record Mr. Healey’s explanation:

• In a cluster, a developer builds at the zone’s density, for example one home per acre in R-40, on smaller lots of 15,000 or 20,000 sq. ft., leaving roughly half the land undeveloped. He showed a township map of past cluster subdivisions and the land they preserved.
• The code has two nearly identical cluster provisions. Of about 12 cluster sections, 11 used the Natural Resource Preservation Cluster; Wildflower Ridge used the Agricultural Cluster, which also carries a 2.3 density bonus. The draft keeps the first, with agriculture among the things it can preserve, and removes the second.
• Lot size averaging, already allowed in the RR3, RR5 and Canal Preservation zones, would be added to the six-acre A zone. A yield map would have to account for stormwater, easements, flood plains and wetlands, language the current ordinance lacks. Dr. Chase asked whether a developer could use averaging to gain a lot by carving out a detention-basin lot, which prompted that answer.
• Chairman Orsini said the Board would keep the requirement that a developer post an escrow for maintaining open space deeded to the township, but with flexibility to waive it.

Records

• Agenda · Draft minutes (attached to the August 5, 2026 agenda, where they were approved) · Packet
• Video on Granicus (about 31 minutes). Granicus publishes no captions for Franklin meetings; this page follows the draft minutes.