Franklin merges Planning, Zoning boards

FRANKLIN — The Franklin Borough Council on Tuesday voted to merge the Planning and Zoning Boards into one body as part of an effort to cut red tape.
In a unanimous four-member vote — with Councilmen Gilbert Snyder and Stephen Skellenger absent — the council approved an ordinance that as of Jan. 1 will fold the Zoning Board of Adjustment into the Planning Board to form a single, nine-member board that will take on the duties of both former bodies. Mayor Nicholas Giordano indicated appointments to the new board will be made at the first regular meeting in January, and will include members of both the Planning and Zoning Boards.
The board will meet once each month, with the possibility of a second meeting when necessary, he said. Giordano also noted the new board would have the power to create standing committees akin to those utilized by the council to address any issues or concerns that come up around applications before they go before the full board to reduce time spent on minutiae at the regular meetings.
“The idea would be that we would have less legal bills and we would have less administrative bills with the combined board,” Giordano said. “Hopefully it'll streamline the process and make it easier for people who want to come in and put projects in Franklin, basically cut down on the red tape.”
Louise Murphy, who has been a member of the Zoning Board for around 15 years, said she believed the move would “definitely” make the land use application process smoother and expressed surprise the change hadn't been made sooner.
Wes Suckey, who served 25 years on the Planning Board before moving to the Zoning Board two years ago, said it is inevitable that there will be some “bumps along the way” as the members get a feel for the new board, but said it would only take a few months or so to straighten out any turbulence.
“Everyone's got to get a feel because everybody's going to come from a different board,” Suckey said. “They've got to figure out and feel out who's doing what and where and how and how everybody acts and reacts and then it will work.”