Franklin commission recommends denying school district exception to conservation easement but permits limited wetland mitigation for building

The City of Franklin Parks and Environmental Commission on July 14 recommended that the Plan Commission deny a requested natural-resource special exception (NRSE) sought by the local school district for development that would affect land subject to a prior conservation easement.

By a roll-call result described in the meeting as 3–2, the commission recommended denial to the Plan Commission, citing the existence of a previously recorded conservation easement covering a core woodland area the district had agreed to preserve when earlier approvals were granted. Commissioners then accepted a friendly amendment to allow mitigation of two specific wetland areas — identified in the project materials as wetland areas 1 and 2 — so the district could complete a limited building addition that staff described as outside the conserved core.

Why it matters: the school district's project includes additional parking, tennis courts and other athletic facilities that would affect wetlands and woodland identified in the conservation easement. Commissioners said the 2012/2014 conservation agreement should weigh heavily in decisions about modifying protected areas; that position, they said, informed the denial recommendation.

Project details discussed at the meeting included the applicant's updated mitigation plan, which shifted some mitigation off-site to a "Hilltop" parcel, and the mitigation ratios specified in the Unified Development Ordinance: 1.5 acres of wetland mitigation required per acre disturbed and a 0.75 ratio for woodland compensation. An engineer for the applicant said a consultant had evaluated the site for endangered species and did not find listed species. "We're quite beginning. We're the engineers of the project. So we engaged Evergreen to evaluate the site…" said Jim Lundberg, an engineer on the project team.

Commissioners also discussed the school's referendum commitments and the practical limits of relocating the listed facilities to another site. Some commissioners suggested the district would have difficulty constructing the same program of facilities at an alternative property without large additional expense.

The commission's recommendation is advisory. The matter will next go to the Plan Commission, which may accept, amend or reject the parks commission's recommendation. If the Plan Commission denies the NRSE, the district would need to redesign the site plan to avoid impacts to the conserved areas or pursue other options.

Ending: The commission's motion and amendment were recorded and will be forwarded to the Plan Commission as the Parks and Environmental Commission's recommendation. The applicant's mitigation proposal and the city's review materials will be part of the Plan Commission record.