Franklin Redevelopment Housing Authority pitches Bank Street homes, flags South View Cemetery land trade-offs

Gwen Bloom, executive with the Franklin Redevelopment Housing Authority, asked Franklin City Council on Monday to partner with the authority on several housing projects, including potential single-family homes on Bank Street and 55-and-over cottages, while urging caution about a parcel adjacent to South View Cemetery that she said the authority might sell if no land exchange is negotiated.

Bloom told council the housing authority currently administers 366 vouchers and has a 2025 budget of $2,829,281 that is paid to landlords in Franklin. “Our annual budget for the year 2025 is $2,829,281,” she said, adding those payments, she said, relieve pressure on households and contribute to local landlords’ revenues.

She described 12 affordable units at 340 Bruce Street — two-bedroom units renting for $1,045 and three-bedrooms for $1,221 — plus a remodeled home at 702 Chestnut, on-site maintenance, and no recent police calls at those properties. Bloom said seven of the 12 units currently house tenants who pay full rent without subsidy.

On development, Bloom said an investor has expressed interest in part of Bank Street to build about 15 low-priced single-family homes that the investor would market for sale, not rent, and that one plan proposes three- and four-bedroom homes priced in the low $200,000s. She said the investor expects to house workers from an incoming juice plant and that the developer would purchase land from the authority and manage the property through a private management company.

Bloom also raised a potential land-exchange issue: the authority owns a parcel next to South View Cemetery that past arrangements had anticipated might be used to expand cemetery grounds. “If we sold that property or built on it, when you were time for the additional land, you would have to look elsewhere because we would not have it available,” she told council, urging city leaders to weigh cemetery expansion needs before any sale.

Council members pressed for detail about unit counts, zoning and infrastructure. The site is zoned R-2 for single-family homes, which limits density; council questioned whether cluster or condominium approaches could increase housing supply while preserving open space. Bloom said the parties are early in negotiations and that a developer (referred to in discussion as “Ryan”) is considering both sides of the street; she said the developer prefers higher unit-per-acre designs to maximize buildable lots but that the authority could sell land to the private investor if council approves.

Councilors also expressed concern about balancing senior housing with workforce housing. Bloom proposed scattered senior cottages and said such units would be energy-efficient, lower utility costs and be managed by the housing authority under public-housing ownership. Several council members urged that the city study where to site multi-family units to serve young workers, noting the juice plant will bring new employees who may not be ready to buy homes.

Bloom framed the presentation as a bid to restore a constructive city–housing authority relationship and to begin planning jointly rather than re-fighting past disputes. The authority has, she said, purchased scattered homes with capital funds and remains open to land swaps if council prefers to preserve cemetery expansion capacity.

Council took no formal vote on any sale or exchange; members asked staff to continue conversations and bring zoning, infrastructure (underground utilities and tap fees) and a development plan back to a future work session so any trade-offs could be assessed in the context of the city’s five‑year planning goals.