Summer Street, Franklin MA - Open Letter to the Town Council

As a longtime resident of Franklin, I care about our city's past, present and future. I am all for development of our community, but it needs to be done in a responsible way. Here is my letter to the Town Council on the Summer Street rezoning.

Dear Town Council members,

It came to my attention that the Summer Street applicant is coming back to the Town Council to resubmit the request for a change of Rural Residential I zoning to the Residential VII zoning. 

I am reaching out to you to express my strong opposition to the proposed zoning changes for the Summer Street property. I did appreciate the Town Council members voting NO the first time. As many residents have expressed during the meeting then, there is a reason why people move to that particular part of our town - it is for the rural feel of the area. I think the change to Residential VII does not fit the area or Franklin as a whole (we can all see what the Residential VII looks like at the Village at Cook’s Farm). It also contradicts the mission statement of the Master Plan adopted in 2013, especially the sections “…we are a community dedicated to effective planning, responsible land use, balanced growth,…” and “… we are committed to cultivating accessible open space, a sense of neighborhood, and a desire to preserve the character of our New England town..”.

In August 2016, TC Chair Mr. Matt Kelly wrote a response to inquiries on growth and infrastructure : “As a council we agree that built in thousand of new homes in our community is not an answer, nor is it what we want. The Franklin Town Council has taken a stance to look at smart growth…”

With 800+/- units that are either under construction, approved, before PB or in the work, according to the Jeff Nutting’s letter to the Town Council in October 2016, we seem to be heading in that direction…

I hope you will take this opportunity, as an elected Town Councilor, to show your commitment to serving the entire Franklin, MA community and vote NO on this matter. 

I appreciate and thank you for your service and for your commitment to our city, that is known as The Town of Franklin!

Renata Gilarova
resident

On a lighter note - enjoy the musical stylings of Jamie Barrett and his song "The City Known As The Town Of Franklin". We have a beautiful and safe city to live in and are very fortunate!

For more detailed information about Summer Street and other town matters, please visit Franklin Matters.