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Health & Fitness

Franklin Mint Developers to Appear Before Public Aug. 30

They're back!!!! The developers want to come back before the public.

 

At the last public hearing held in April 2011, developer front-man Mark Dambly promised that the FMS Development group  "would be back" after receiving mostly scathing criticism from residents regarding their dense-packed ordinance for the development of the Franklin Mint and surrounding historic properties.

Well, the time has come.

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On Tuesday, Aug. 30, a special meeting will be held at the Middletown Township municipal building to host the developers. According to township officials, no one has an inkling of what the developer squad plans to present. There have been no reported meetings between the township’s agents and the developers, no revised plans, no new ordinances, no nothing submitted by the group! The consensus is the group wants to come and share some ideas on how to improve the ordinance; presumably based on feedback from the residents and the few council members that spoke about the development.

This ordinance, this concept, has been lingering for so long that even seasoned developers feel that it’s time has passed. The ultra-dense, traffic plagued planning of mixed-use "town centers" has waned. Developers have learned that once you lure customers into the town center maze, they still drive to their respective destinations. The "walkable" community is not so "walkable" when you plan on stopping at the supermarket for groceries, then at the home improvement store to pick up eight pieces of dry-wall, and then go to the home furnishings store to get a picture to hang on the newly hung dry-wall. If you want to see this in action, just sit in the parking lot of the town center four miles up the road from the Mint property in Concord Township. You will have to cross five lanes of traffic to get into the sight, but once there you’ll see this circus in action.

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This whole project seemed ill-conceived from the beginning. The developers purchased an equity ownership in the old Franklin Mint company that provides an 86-acre based for development. It’s all zoned for special use (SU1). They quietly continue to amass 14 more parcels of land for a total of 172 acres – all of which are either zoned commercial or low-density residential. Most of this is done before the general public has an idea of what is being planned. Doesn’t that seem like putting the cart before the horse? Wouldn’t you want to get some buy-in first, some feedback from residents and surrounding neighbors before you unveil the renderings and model for one of the largest, dense-packed, traffic generating plans that Delaware County has ever seen? I’m just saying.

It’s time for Middletown residents and township officials to look at this situation from a new approach. The commentary that it’s "to dense" makes good campaign snippets but doesn’t solve the problem. It’s easy to say what you don’t want. But what do you want, and why? Instead of sitting back and having these developers introduce arcane ordinances, flawed traffic studies, and unprecedented densities, the township should provide some guiding principles for how development should proceed.

Right now, the only lawful way to proceed is outlined in the current zoning ordinances. And right now that land is zoned for some residential, commercial, and special use. Without any guidance, the developers can come in with hundreds of plans and ideas. It’ll be hit or miss without specific measures of success. Until then, the property will continue to be blight on Middletown’s landscape and a haven for ATV riders.

For more information visit www.savemiddletown.com

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