Town of Franklin Unveils Draft Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Solicits Commentary

The Town of Franklin unveiled the land use plan they've been working on for a year or so at Tartan Hall on the night of March 4th and Macon Media was present to record the event. Thirty-seven people were present, with about twenty being either town staff, developers of the plan, or news media.

To download a copy of the plan, visit FranklinTownPlan.com 

Photos are posted below the video.

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video



Roll Call
(media outlets with reporters/photographers present. Elected critters are also listed)

Macon Media (reporter)
The Franklin Press (reporter)
WNCC-FM/WFSC-AM (reporter)
Macon County News and Shopping Guide (photographer)

Bob Scott, Mayor
Barbara McRae, Vice Mayor, Franklin Town Council
David Culpepper, Franklin Town Council
Dinah Mashburn, Franklin Town Council
Jack Horton, Franklin Town Council


Photos
(in no particular order. Click on any image to embiggen to a larger size)







Published at 1:55pm on Thursday, March 5, 2020

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Franklin Town Council Continuation Meeting September 24, 2018

The Franklin Town Council met last night to continue their Sept 4th recessed meeting. Video and a summary of the meeting are posted below.

AGENDA

Council Continuation Meeting
Agenda
September 24, 2018
5:30 pm

l. Call to Order- Mayor Bob Scott

2. Old Business

A.) Discussion on Non-Profit Funding Pool Applications for FY 2018-2019- Town Council
B.) Discussion on Mission and HCA Resolution- Town Council
C.) Discussion on Town of Franklin Comprehensive Plan- Town Attorney John Henning, Jr.

3. Adjournment

VIDEO



ROLL CALL
(media outlets that had reporters or photographers at the meeting)

Macon Media (me)
The Franklin Press
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM

MEETING SUMMARY

Mission/HCA Resolution Tabled

The council tabled the resolution regarding the acquisition of Mission Health by the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) until the October meeting.

Non-Profit Funding Pool Vote

The council discussed the non-profit funding pool requests for about 45 minutes, then by a vote of 4-2, the council denied the request of the Literacy Council and the Franklin Cemetery Association for funding and funded the remainder of the requests by a proportional percentage. Since the pool is $40,000 and the requests for funding totaled (according to the council) $48,000, this means the non-profits that requested $5,000 (Community Care Clinic, Habitat for Humanity, Hospice House Foundation, KIDS Place, Macon County Care Network, Macon County Humane Society, Macon County Public Library, REACH, Read2Me) would receive in the neighborhood of $3,900 and the one who requested $3,000 (Arts Council) would receive in the neighborhood of $2,300.


VOTING FOR Collins, Culpepper, McRae, McMahan
VOTING AGAINST Mashburn, Kimsey

After the vote, Mayor Scott reminded those present that this is likely to be the last year the council will be fielding requests to be funded from the non-profit funding pool in favor of using the funds to support one or two big projects every year. Councilman Culpepper floated the idea of the town having a fundraiser sometime during the year to allow the public to contribute funds that would benefit area non-profits.

Previous discussion [LINK]

Town of Franklin Comprehensive Plan

After a short break, the town council discussed hiring out the development of a ten-year comprehensive plan for the town. The projected cost for this is $85,000 and will take twelve months to complete. The council voted 6-0 to enable the town manager to get a more formal quote.

VOTING FOR Collins, Culpepper, Mashburn, McRae, McMahan, Kimsey
VOTING AGAINST None

The council then recessed until September 25th. The council will be holding a joint meeting with the Town of Highlands and Macon County in Highlands. The next regular meeting of the town council will be Monday, October 1st at 6 pm in the lower level of the town hall.

Previous Meeting [LINK]

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12:00 pm on September 25, 2018

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Dec 2015 Meeting of the Macon County Planning Board

MEETING SUMMARY

The Macon County Planning Board met December 17th at the Environmental Resource Center on Sierra Drive and reviewed the latest changes to the Wireless Telecommunications Ordinance, discussed the ongoing efforts of the various subcommittees to update the Macon County Comprehensive Plan and discussed what future tasks the board wanted to take on after these two projects are completed.

Brittney Burns, reporter for the Macon County News and Shopping Guide, declined her appointment to the board and Board member Becky Ramey resigned due to not having enough time to devote to the planning board because of her involvement in other boards and work. The Highlands Town Board of Commissioners still has not appointed a replacement for their unfilled seat, this brings the number of empty seats on the board to three.

The board will meet next on January 21, 2016 at the Environmental Resource Center.

VIDEO OF MEETING

This meeting was streamed live on Livestream and a copy of the video is embedded here so you can see and hear for yourself exactly what transpired at the meeting. This was made possible thanks to donations from Patreon subscribers.



WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORDINANCE

A draft copy of the Wireless Telecommunications Ordinance is embedded here for your review. You may follow along with the video as you read the document and the board members discuss the latest revisions to the document. This document, once the planning board approves the changes, will send it to the Board of County Commissioners, then a public hearing will be held before they vote on the changes.

DRAFT COPY Wireless Telecommunications Ordinance

MEDIA ROLL CALL
(media outlets that had reporters at the meeting)

Macon Media (Bobby Coggins)
The Franklin Press (Ryan Hanchett)

No other media outlets were present.


CROWD FUNDING 

If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. If you have a business or event you are interested in sponsorship opportunities or underwriting coverage, send an email to editor@MaconMedia.com for more information. Serious inquiries only.

You can find out more information on how to do that and some of what I plan to accomplish if I reach certain levels of funding at https://www.patreon.com/MaconMedia

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NCDOT Awards 2015 Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Grants Franklin Among Recepients

The NCDOT has warded a grant to ten municipalities across the state to assist with bicycle and pedestrian planning, and Franklin is one of them. AT the November 2014 meeting fo the town board, the town voted to apply for $36,000 in grant monies at a 10% match. According to the NCDOT, the funds will be awarded in June.

The Franklin Town Board will be meeting tonight for their regular April 2015 meeting. More on that at this link.

Here is video of the segment of the meeting where the vote took place:



Here is the press release:

PRESS RELEASE
NCDOT Roadside Environmental Unit
APRIL 6, 2015


RALEIGH- A group of 10 municipalities from across the state are slated to receive assistance with bicycle and pedestrian planning, thanks to grants awarded this month by the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Now in its twelfth year, the grant program helps North Carolina cities and towns develop a comprehensive overall strategy for expanding bicycle and pedestrian opportunities within a given community.

The municipalities selected are scattered across various regions of the state. Recipients were selected from a pool of 26 applications by an awards committee comprised of transportation planners from across the state, including representatives of regional planning organizations and councils of government, local governments and NCDOT staff from multiple units.

Recipients this year include:
• Canton (joint bicycle/pedestrian plan)
• Fairmont (joint bicycle/pedestrian plan)
• Franklin (joint bicycle/pedestrian plan)
• Hendersonville (bicycle plan)
• High Point (pedestrian plan)
• Lenoir (bicycle plan)
• Newport (bicycle/pedestrian plan)
• Rutherfordton (bicycle/pedestrian plan)
• Wendell (pedestrian plan)
• Windsor (bicycle/pedestrian plan)

The planning grant initiative is jointly sponsored by the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation and NCDOT’s Transportation Planning Branch. To date, approximately $4,332,000 has been awarded to 164 communities through the planning grant program.

Plans funded are not for one specific project, but represent a comprehensive strategy for expanding bicycle and pedestrian opportunities within a given municipality. These plans address facilities, programs, services and regulations that encourage safe walking and bicycling.

For more information on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Grant Initiative; contact NCDOT’s Division of Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation or visit the Planning Grant Initiative website.

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Macon County Planning Board December 2013 Meeting

The Macon County Planning Board held their last meeting of the year yesterday, and the video and supporting documents are posted below. Jimmy Goodman was replaced with Ben Lassiter on the board.


MEDIA ROLL CALL

Macon Media was the only member of the press present at the meeting. There was also no one from the public at the meeting.

The next meeting of the planning board is tentatively scheduled for January 16, 2014 at 4pm, where they will begin looking at the Macon County Comprehensive Plan. I have embedded a copy of it below so you can download it for your records.

Macon County Comprehensive Plan

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