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Health & Fitness

A Tale of No City

Latest Franklin Mint plan peeks Middletown's interest.

 

At a special and surrounding historic properties came back in front of the township council and residents, with yet another plan in hand, to once again talk about the future of this large tract.

This time, there was no glitzy power-point presentation. There was no movie of town planner extraordinaire Victor Dover extolling the benefits of dense-packed housing, or two ice cream stores competing for business, or narrow tree-lined streets that can barely accommodate a fire truck. The developer’s front-man Mark Dambly did not get up in front of the crowd and fend off comments from one resident after another protesting the traffic and density this plan would bring to Middletown.

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What we did see was developer Frank McKee, considered a statesmen of the group, stand up and patiently explain a two-panel rendering for a plan that was much less dense, less intrusive, and more along the lines of what many people would consider "moderate use" for this site.

We also saw many of the residents, including some who would have been immensely impacted by the previous CITY plans, give a nod of approval that we are heading in the right direction. And we also saw our council members, well all but one, look on with approving interest on what was clearly something different than what they’ve seen in the past. You know the old adage you can’t please all the people all the time? Well I don’t think this plan pleased this one council person – at all. But then again this is about what the majority of residents and those most affected believe is right for the township – the key word being majority.

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For those of you who don’t know, the development of this site will be going on its sixth year of discussion. In the Fall of 2006 a group of concerned residents, living on the north side of Baltimore Pike, was gathering in response to this unprecedented development being proposed on the site of the former Franklin Mint. At the same time, a group of residents on the south side of Baltimore Pike was gathering to discuss the same dilemma. The prospective leaders of both communities soon realized that the power of one would be critical if the residents were to have a say in the development of their neighborhood.

On Dec. 2, 2006 the community group SAVE MIDDLETOWN was formed and a committee of seven held their first meeting. Since then, membership has continued to grow and the NO CITY mantra served as the catalyst to push this development back. And push back they did! It is clear that the actions and reactions from the membership directly resulted in each iteration of the CITY Plan being rejected. 

They attended meetings, sported NO CITY signs on their lawns, signed petitions, donated money for a legal defense fund, and were very instrumental in supporting two candidates in Middletown’s primary election held in the Spring, and electing those candidates for a spot on the general election ballot being held in the Fall.

Now, you may ask, what have the developers put in front of the township to consider? Well, the new plan is less dense and intrusive as residents have been demanding all along. But how much so? Some of the components of the new plan show 200 residential units which could be houses, condominiums or a retirement community, a grocery store and home improvement store, a 120,000 square foot office building, a family restaurant, a 125-room, four-story hotel, four additional potential restaurant sites, a possible bank, maybe another restaurant where the existing post office is and a building that could be used for a township library, fire station, or other public use.

In additional the Franklin Mint building would remain and rented by existing tenants and refurbished for new uses. So overall, it is less dense the previous plans. But is it the right plan? Well, that remains to be seen when the specifics are revealed.

At the end of the meeting last week the developers refused to publicize the specifications of the site because, frankly, I don’t think they have them all worked out. It was a general presentation and more needs to be done. And I suspect that the SAVE MIDDLETOWN membership will be there at the upcoming planning committee meetings and council public hearings to see it through to the end.

For more information visit www.savemiddletown.com.

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