The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Five parcels totaling about 3.5 acres, located along Franklin Boulevard near Lewis Street, were designated as being in need of redevelopment by the Planning Board at its June 4 meeting.
The five lots are being eyed by Township officials for affordable housing, a concept that is scheduled to be discussed at the Board’s June 18 meeting.
The parcels now hold a dilapidated office building, an unused parking lot, the former Post Office building, and home that is occupied. One of the parcels is vacant with a boarded up building.
The designation makes available a variety of tools for the Township to use to acquire the property, including condemnation.
Board members, while generally in favor of the suggestion to designate the parcels as in need of redevelopment, were concerned about the effect that would have on the residents of 525 Lewis Street, a two-story house with a garage and driveway.
Malvika Apte, an engineer with CME Associates who did the redevelopment study for the Board, said that there are legal protections for residents whose properties are taken by condemnation.
“The redevelopment law does have requirements in which if a property is designated which does include dwelling unit owners in the area, relocation of that is required under the redevelopment law and that has to be spelled out in the redevelopment plan,” she said. “The (Council) has to review the property and provide the just compensation under its market value and discuss that with the property owner. It doesn’t mean that you kick out the person that owns the property, they are brought to the table and negotiated with in terms of how this would be handled.”
She was backed up by Planning Board attorney Peter Vignolo.
“One of the things that an entity utilizing eminent domain needs to do is make sure that any tenant that’s displaced as a result of eminent domain has somewhere to go,” he said. “So they provide them with assistance in finding location, they find monetary assistance. It’s not as if, if the owner of the property isn’t the occupant and it is a rental property, it’s not as if the tenants are just thrown out on the curb and told you’re on your own.”
“There are mechanisms within the law that provide assistance to those tenants as well to make sure that the result of the exercise of eminent domain does not necessarily affect that tenant at all.”
Apte said she included it in the recommendation for designation as a redevelopment site because the property lies between other properties that would be included in the redevelopment area, and it’s best to create a contiguous parcel.
“We would have to give a fair conversation, but they could not say no,” Board chairman Michael Orsini said. “I’m not averse to including it in the redevelopment area because it makes sense as you want a continuous piece of property. But that, that said, I mean, I’m sensitive to somebody’s rights to occupy their property.”
“I think it should be included from a planning standpoint, which is what we’re talking about right now,” Orsini said. “But I think I would keep an eye on this to make sure that we do right by people.”
Board vice-chairman Charles Brown said he was concerned that the target area was studied in a vacuum, which could lead to “normalizing the experiences of black and brown and low-income people in that area. There’s a chance that if we concentrate development in that one area, it could, you know, perpetuate more segregation. And it could also lead to displacement of lower income people in the area given the increase in value on that property and surrounding areas.”
“So that’s why it’s important to denote the history in the area in the selection of the properties because it doesn’t impact everyone the same,” he said.
“Fair point,” Apte said. “However, this study was just to analyze these properties.”
“Obviously, what would come after that on these properties would again be a public process in terms of redevelopment plan,” she said. “What should be permitted there? What should not be permitted there? And how these properties are developed. So this is not like the end of the bite of the apple. The Planning Board would still get to see the site plan and what have you on this property.”
“What I’m what I’m attempting to do is plant the seed to express concern regarding the approach and how we end up with a concentration of properties in one area of town,” Brown said. “I understand that we have an affordable housing piece that we need to meet. But again, you don’t want to see it all in that one area as well, again, perpetuating the status quo there. So I just want to look objectively across town to ensure that when you’re designating a property as such, that you’ve considered the history of that place and what may be informing the reasons why it’s disinvested.”
The other four properties that the Board is recommending be included in the redevelopment zone are:
- 610 Franklin Boulevard, a primarily vacant property with a dilapidated, boarded-up residence.
- 606 Franklin Boulevard, the site of the former Post Office.
- 600 Franklin Boulevard, which holds a dilapidated two-story office building that has been designated as unsafe to enter.
- 515 Lewis Street, which holds an unused parking lot.
The resolution now goes before the Township Council for its action.
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