Editor’s Note: The following letter is addressed to Mayor Lempert and members of the Council.

My husband and I have been proud homeowners at 278 Hamilton Avenue for the past eighteen years. When I immigrated to the U.S.A. 30 years ago, I first lived in Chicago and then Manhattan before finally relocating to Princeton. What especially drew me to this community — beyond its human scale, good schools, and cultural offerings — was the ease of getting around the town. I could simply live my life here without the crazy parking challenges found in big cities. For me and so many other residents here, this is essential to the Princeton lifestyle. Sadly, it is now under threat.

In my neighborhood on Hamilton Avenue we have long been restricted to street parking on only one side. Our driveways are small and narrow (not much space for the average American’s two family cars), so visiting friends, family members, and contractors must already struggle to find available parking on the street. It is a particular problem when hosting overnight guests since street parking is prohibited at night. Now we learn of the plan to prohibit parking in total along Hamilton Avenue to accommodate a dedicated bike lane. This proposal is completely impractical and punitive for any resident of Hamilton Avenue, as well as for anyone trying to visit or provide a service to those who live on Hamilton Avenue. The elderly and the disabled will be especially harmed. Residents on streets near Hamilton Avenue will also be severely impacted since desperate drivers will seek alternate parking in those neighborhoods, boosting congestion. What are we supposed to do? Pave our lawns for use as parking lots?

I have canvassed our neighborhood as well as residents of surrounding streets. Everyone I spoke to was united in their opposition to this ill-conceived plan. If you pass the “no parking zone” on our street you WILL RESTRICT AND CHANGE our life styles.

I support biking as an important means of reducing energy use. Bikers were using our street for years without any accidents (we checked the data several years back). And we could park cars on the street at the same time.

This new policy will only antagonize homeowners against bikers and vice versa. I already saw it in an angry exchange of words between these “two groups”. “DIVIDE AND RULE — Is this a new policy of Princeton government? Fellow neighbors and I were shocked to learn about this plan only days before a final decision was apparently pending and we were only temporarily rescued by last week’s snow storm.

For the sake of all of us who live on and near Hamilton Avenue — and for all residents of Princeton who will likely face similar ill-advised plans in the future once this precedent is set — we ask you to reconsider. Do not divide us!

Marzena Torzecka Danilewicz,

Tomasz Danilewicz

Hamilton Avenue