The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
UPDATE: The Township Council at its June 24 meeting endorsed the Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. Next stop is the state Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program. The Council anticipates that by 2034, there will be $34.5 million in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which is used to fund, support, and administer affordable housing.
Exactly how the Township plans on meeting its obligation to provide for 659 affordable housing units between now and 2035 was laid out at the June 18 Planning Board meeting.
Basically, the obligation will be met through three family rental developments and one senior rental development that will be located in various areas of Franklin.
The Township will also provide for the rehabilitation of 268 current affordable units.
The final numbers were reached earlier this year through negotiations with a builder’s industry group which objected to Franklin’s original estimate that it should provide for 623 new affordable units.
The new and rehabilitated affordable units comprise the Township’s obligation for the fourth round of housing obligations under the state’s Mount Laurel Doctrine and Fair Housing Act.
The plan is included in the Township’s Housing Plan Element and Fair Share Plan, as described by Malvika Apte, an engineer with CME Associates, at the Planning Board meeting.
The first development targeted in the plan is 260 Davidson Avenue, which is currently an extended stay hotel that is for sale.
The hotel will be converted into 142 one-, two- and three-bedroom units, all of which will be affordable housing, Apte said.
The Township will also qualify for a 70-unit bonus because the project will be a redevelopment of a commercial site, she said.
The second property is located at 347 Elizabeth Avenue, a 5-story office building. Plans are to convert that building into a 200-unit residential building, with 100 units set aside for affordable housing, Apte said.
“These large vacant office spaces are no longer the land use mantra of today,” she said. “Usually offices do want to be in a downtown where they can avail themselves of other kinds of uses.”
And again, because it is redevelopment of a commercial use, the Township would be entitled to another 50 credits for the affordable portion, she said.
The third site is at 315 Davidson Avenue, which is currently vacant property.
The plan is to construct a 260-unit building with 130 units set aside as affordable housing, Apte said.
The fourth site is a tract the Board discussed at its last meeting, 606-610 Franklin Boulevard. The plan calls for this site to be redeveloped into 120 units of affordable senior housing.
The Township would be entitled to an additional 12 credits because the development would be age-restricted, Apte said.
The Housing Element now goes before the Township Council for its endorsement, which has to be done by the end of June to avoid further litigation by developers.
Objectors have until the end of August to lodge their opposition. Any objections must be settled by the end of December, and any necessary ordinance changes to accommodate the new Housing Element must be completed by March 15, 2026.
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