9 New Lots at Lakes at Franklin Mills Cleared

The Kent Planning Commission gave the OK to plans for the final phase of the Lakes at Franklin Mills housing development Tuesday.

Bob Heimann, the developer for the project, explained plans for the final phase of the development that will include nine new lots to be platted mostly on Stonewater Drive near Fairchild Avenue.

Heimann said the plan presented Tuesday was nearly identical to one he proposed to the planning commission in February.

"With a few exceptions," he said.

The lots along Stonewater Drive were adjusted so that the end lot nearest to Fairchild Avenue would move that house further south and out of the line of sight for drivers pulling onto and off Fairchild Avenue.

The second change addressed the location of the driveways for each of those lots on Stonewater Drive so the existing landscape islands in the middle of the street would be left unchanged.

"Basically everything else on the plan is the same," Heimann said.

The new housing lots would be considered Phase IV of the development, which includes more than 200 residences comprised of condominiums, “lifestyle” homes and single-family houses.

The new lots would be larger with greater setbacks from the street than the existing single-family houses in the neighborhood.

Kent planning engineer Jennifer Barone said each new house would still have to come to the city for approval and a building permit.

"What the planning commission is approving is essentially the subdivision of the lots," she said.