The Franklin Town Council approved rezoning five residential areas but will ask the Planning Board to further study the area along Old Murphy Road that was also recommended for rezoning.
Planner Justin Setser and the Planning Board spent three meetings earlier this year reviewing seven areas in town to be rezoned so that the properties were more in line with their current usage. The Planning Board’s recommendations were presented at the July Town Council meeting. Several residents from the Old Murphy Road area attended the July public hearing to oppose the proposed rezoning.
At the Aug. 7 meeting, the Council unanimously voted to approve rezoning of 339.15 acres in the following areas.
• PZC1: Iotla Street, White Oak Circle and Ridgewood Drive area, 49 parcels. Rezoned from MICR (Medical, Industrial, Cultural and Residential) to R-1 residential and Traditional Neighborhood zoning.
• PZC2: Lake Emory Road, Memory Lane, Pannell Lane and Gilcrest Lane, 39 parcels. Rezoned from R-1 to R-2 residential. (R-2 zoning allows mobile homes; R-1 does not.)
• PZC3: Town Mountain Road and Randolph Street area, 203 parcels. Rezoned from R2 to R1.
• PZC4: Sloan Street and First Street area, 126 parcels. Rezoned from R2 to R1.
• PZC7: Vine Drive, nine parcels. Rezoned from R-1 to R-2.
Connie Stiles, who lives on Sloan Street, attended the July and August meetings and stressed the importance of zoning in protecting property values and the character of neighborhoods.
She asked that the town consider rezoning Cherry Street, Hillside Street and the ends of Second Street as R-1, which does not allow mobile homes. She said there are primarily stick-built homes along those streets and by having the current R-2 zoning, people would be able to put in a mobile home if something happened to one of the stick-built homes.
She said the other homeowners she has spoken to want stick-built homes there. She pointed out there are other streets in the neighborhood where R-2 zoning would be appropriate as mobile homes are currently there.
“Please treat those citizens the same way you would want to be treated. If you’re in a stick-built structure, and your neighbors are in a stick-built structure, you’re going to want to see stick-built go back rather than mobile homes.”
Setser said the board could not act on that request Monday night because those areas have not gone through the formal rezoning application process and would need to be presented during a separate public hearing. Council member Rita Salain asked that Setser and the Planning Board start that process.
In a separate motion, the Council agreed to ask the Planning Board to further look at the Old Murphy Road area (PZC6) which includes 113 parcels on Murphy Road, Old Murphy Road, Junior Pruitt, Waldroop, Louisa Chapel and Rock Quarry roads and Arrowwood Lane.
The area is currently zoned C-2 (commercial) and industrial for the rock quarry. The Planning Board had recommended rezoning it to R-1 and R-2 (residential), NMU (Neighborhood Mixed Use), C-3 (commercial) and industrial.
Council Member Mike Lewis asked if they even needed to study it more and that it was a moot point if the town cannot provide sewer service in that area, but Setser said zoning and utility services are two different issues.
PZC5, which included 11 parcels on Wayah Street and Panther Drive, including Franklin High School, was pulled from consideration. Setser said the county has asked that it be rezoned to another district, and the Planning Board has not reviewed that yet. The area will remain Neighborhood Mixed Used.
In a separate rezoning request, David Forkner applied to have 10.26 acres at 311 Golfview Dr. rezoned from Medium Density Residential to Neighborhood Mixed Use.
According to the deed recorded July 19, KAVOD Community LLC (with Forkner as registered agent) purchased the property for $335,000 from Anita Angel and Unified Credit Trust (established by the will of the late Furman Angel Jr.). The Council voted to send the request to the Planning Board for review.
The Franklin Planning Board meets at 4 p.m. the third Monday of each month in the board room on the lower level of Town Hall. If you have questions about zoning in your neighborhood, call Planner Justin Setser at 828-524-2516 or jsetser@franklinnc.com.
In other business, the Council voted to:
• To begin a 457 deferred compensation plan offered by the state for public employees. Human Resources Director Nicole Bradley said the plan gives workers the option to save for retirement and the biggest benefit is that there is no penalty for withdrawals, regardless of age. The plan will be available for full-time, part-time and temporary employees. There is no cost to the town to participate. “There’s no downside to it,” said Town Manager Amie Owens.
• Approve the deed to assume responsibility for the streets, sidewalks and rights-of-way in Scenic Ridge, located off Highlands Road, beginning Nov. 28. The development was completed in November 2022, and the board’s previous agreement with developer Phil Drake stated the town would take ownership of the streets, sidewalks and utility rights-of-way after one year. The town will be responsible for snow removal as the streets will be added to the town’s maintenance plan.
• Approve the deed for .74 acres from Gemstone Village for the sewer pump station. Snobar LLC installed a line extension in September 2022 for the development off Prentiss Bridge Road. The town will take over maintenance of the water and sewer lines in September and Snobar is deeding the pump station and land surrounding it to the town.
• Approve the agreement for engineering services for the clearwell and high service pumps at the water treatment plant. These were the items listed as the top priorities for the water treatment plant repairs. The 2023-24 capital improvement plan includes $3.7 million from water/sewer retained earnings for the projects. Owens said they were looking at possible grants to help offset the cost.
• Add Dewberry Engineers, Inc. as an on-call engineering provider. This would be in addition to Withers Ravenel and McGill Associates who are working on other projects for the town.
Street closures and events
The council approved the closure of Phillips Street from 3-9 p.m. on Sept. 9 and 23 and Oct. 14 for an artisan market in conjunction with Pickin on the Square. Organizer Bonnie Pickartz said there are 30 local artists who would participate. Council Members Rita Salain and Joe Collins said the town should evaluate the success of the event at the end of the season.
Iotla Street and one lane of Main Street will be closed from 3-9:30 p.m. on Aug. 19 for a new event “Trucks and Tunes” featuring live music and food trucks. Owens said seven trucks have signed up so far.
The Town Hall offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 4 for the Labor Day holiday. The next Town Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, due to the regular meeting day falling on the holiday. The council meets in the board room on the lower level of Town Hall.