FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) — At Monday night’s council meeting, the City of Franklin passed the final reading of the zoning map ordinance.

During the meeting, on a final-reading basis, the Council passed the change in the zoning in the area located between Tenth Street and Hillside Avenue bordered by Elm Street and Chestnut Street and located between Tenth Street and Ninth Street bordered by Elm Street and Park Street from an Industrial District to a TRC (Transitional Residential Commercial District).

The zoning change came after Venango County had asked for a change in the zoning because it wants to turn a former office building at the corner of Hillside Avenue and Chestnut Street into a 4-unit apartment complex.

The County first asked for just a rezoning of the property it was intending on purchasing, but after looking at the area involved, the City of Franklin quickly realized that a lot of residential properties were zoned in an Industrial zone and that conflict existed between the industrial classification and the more recent designation of the area as part of a wellhead protection zone.

At the public hearing held prior to Monday’s council meeting, one person, speaking on behalf of her mother who lives in the area being rezoned, asked how the rezoning would affect her mother’s taxes and property value.

City Solicitor Brian Spaid said while he doesn’t know the actual impact, but that rezoning residential areas from Industrial to some type of residential zoning “generally improves the property value because people can now buy homes in a residential area.”