January 2, 2007

The meeting of the Planning Commission of Franklin Township, held in the 
Township office, was called to order at 1905 hours.  Present were Dwight Miller, 
Hugh Crandall, Dennis Howard, Larry and Paul Pieper and Janet Woods.

MINUTES
Miller moved to approve the minutes of 11/7/06 as presented.  Howard 
seconded.  Carried.  There was no quorum for the 12/5/06 meeting.

VISITORS/PUBLIC COMMENT
Pieper Mylar – the Mylar shows Lot 1 with 50 ft. of frontage at 7190 Crane Road 
that opens to a parcel 402.37 ft. wide, 2283.56 ft. deep with 20.866 net acres.  
The parcel has existing buildings that meet the setback regulations, septic and 
well.  It also includes a 50 ft. right-of-way that runs from Crane Road to the rear 
of the lot on the west side.  Lot 2, the residue, at 7216 Crane Road meets the 
Zoning Ordinance regulations for size, frontage and building setbacks.

Miller – with the right-of-way you have more options if you ever decide to 
subdivide.  

Howard moved to approve the Pieper Mylar as presented.  Miller seconded.  
Carried.  Mylar was signed.

The Piepers left the meeting at 1917 hours.

Janet Woods Proposed Sketch Plan – Janet has a rental house at 11420 Fry 
Road.  She would like to subdivide it from the rest of the property and sell it.

Woods - the barn driveway divides my brother’s property on the south side from 
my property on the north side.  I can’t find decent renters and would like to sell 
the house.  From the corner of the driveway to the other driveway on the north 
side there is 150 ft. of frontage.  I have a huge parking lot between the two 
houses but I don’t want to cut into it.  The proposed lot has its own well and 
septic.

Miller – are you concerned about the parking lot being so close to the house you 
want to sell?

Woods – I recognize the risk but everyone wants to live in the country.  The lot 
would be 150’x100’, an estimated ˝ acre parcel.  I don’t want to lose my parking 
lot or my barn that is close to the rear of the rental.  The land behind the rental 
has been planted in maple trees and is in a government program.

A lengthy discussion was held on possible ways to subdivide in accordance with 
the Township’s Zoning Ordinance regulations.

Howard – we just can’t do it; it’s just too small of a lot as proposed.

Ms. Woods said she would take the Commission’s suggestions into account and 
left the meeting at 2007 hours.

OLD BUSINESS
Zoning Ordinance Amendment/Storage Trailers, Ground-Level Storage – on 
hold.

NEW BUSINESS
Supervisors David Henderson and Gary Truitt joined the meeting at 2008 
hours.

A draft of a sample Stormwater Management Ordinance from the State was 
handed out and Commission members were asked to review it and report back 
their feelings on it.

Nuisance Ordinance Rewrite – a list of major issues that cause concern was 
reviewed.  The list included junk cars, junk mobile homes, junk/discarded items, 
storage trailers, collapsed structures, burning, noise, general property 
maintenance, swimming pools of all types, junk recreational trailers, pest control 
in relation to junk.

Burning--Tires, General Trash:
Miller – does DEP cover this issue instead of it being addressed in the 
Township’s Nuisance Ordinance?

Henderson – for general trash, DEP expects the local municipality to have an 
ordinance that covers it.

Junk Cars:
Miller – our rewrite says no junk cars are allowed.

Henderson – we need to check court cases to see if a total ban would fly.

Junk Mobile Homes, Recreation Trailers:
The words “mobile home’ will be added under the dangerous structure definition.

Junk/Discarded Items:
Henderson – we need to make sure a nuisance is properly defined.  It has to 
affect public safety.  The definition would have to pass previous court cases.

Storage Trailers:
 Discussion on allowing storage trailers only if they are currently leased from a 
bona-fide company in the business of leasing them.

Collapsed Structures:
Discussion on what is dangerous.

Burning:
Henderson – DEP allows the casual burning of kitchen papers.  This captures 
more than just casual burning.  We already have an ordinance that prohibits 
burning recyclables.  Discussion.

Noise:
Discussion was held on noise from the shooting range on New Road, outdoor 
band concerts, indoor band concerts.

Henderson – if you have performance standards, you need to measure the 
sound levels. 

Howard – what you really need is a separate noise ordinance.

Discussion was held on measuring noise levels.

Miller – I will check DEP’s regulations on noise and burning.

General Property Maintenance:
Discussion was held on a general statement concerning property maintenance.

Henderson – it should start with the positive and then go to the negative.

Miller – we will clean up the draft and e-mail it to the Supervisors.

Henderson – the next step would then be for it to go to our Attorney for his 
review. 

ADJOURN
Miller moved to adjourn, Howard seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 2114 hours.

Bonnie J. Bernhardt, Secretary