A POSSIBLE EXPANSION: A model of how the campus of PRISMS Academy might look if it is approved for zoning that would allow expansion shows the main building, center, in white, surrounded by proposed buildings, in brick. Homes surrounding the campus, several of which have been purchased by the school, are also shown in white. Residents of the neighborhood are concerned about the project.

At a meeting next Wednesday, May 27 at the Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science (PRISMS), residents of Lambert Drive will get a chance to air their concerns about a proposed expansion of the school, which is housed in a former mansion in the middle of the neighborhood.

PRISMS, which has purchased five homes on the neighborhood’s inner loop and has pending purchases of others, has applied for a use variance in order to expand from 80 to 240 students and add a two-story academic building, dormitory, dining hall, gymnasium, and parking lots to the campus. Residents of the homes surrounding the site worry that the scope of the project will add noise, traffic, and congestion, and alter the character of the area.

But the school’s administration maintains that the expansion would be respectful of the neighborhood. “I can understand people would be concerned when they hear about the expansion,” said Matthew Pearce, PRISMS’s executive principal. “But we feel we’re trying to build a school of excellence. Our students are all very focused. Their days are very busy and structured. We’re actually being careful not to disturb the state of the neighborhood by preserving the garden nature of the campus. Where we intend to build is inside our main campus, as it were. We feel we’ll contain it as best we can. It won’t cause a negative impact.”

The project’s architect Bob Hillier (a Town Topics shareholder) said the expansion will have 75-foot setbacks, exceeding the requirements in a residential zone. “The buildings we’re planning are well within the site,” he said. “And also, they are basically residential in scale.” Mr. Hillier added that the school was approached by homeowners about purchasing their properties, instead of the other way around. “In each case they have come to them and said, ‘Before I put it on the market are you interested?’,” he said.

Housed in the former home of the American Boychoir School, PRISMS is a non-profit organization that has a sister school in Beijing and is affiliated with Renmin University. The property, which was home to pharmaceutical magnate Gerard Lambert before housing the Boychoir school from 1952 to 2012, was purchased by the Bairong Education Foundation, funded by Jiang Bairong of the multi-billion dollar Bairong Investment Holdings Group in Beijing.

The school needs a floor area ratio (FAR) above what is permitted in the R-1 residential zone in order to carry out the expansion plan. Mr. Hillier submitted a master plan to the town in February. The issue could come before the Zoning Board sometime next month, though an exact date has not been set.

Lambert Drive residents say they bought their homes knowing a school was located in the center of the neighborhood, with restrictions limiting the student body to 82. Changing zoning to raise that number to 240 would have a negative impact on their quality of life, they say.

PRISMS first announced plans to request a rezoning two years ago, with a goal of expanding enrollment to 300. But strong opposition from neighbors resulted in the request being removed from the Princeton Council agenda in February of that year. Residents say nothing more was mentioned and it appeared the proposal had been dropped.

Neighbors learned that a master plan had been submitted this past February when a resident sold her home to the school. The properties that have been purchased, which are located on Lambert Drive and Rosedale Road, will not be removed from the town’s tax rolls, as some have suggested, according to Mr. Hillier. “The school’s intention is where they have the houses, they will continue to pay the taxes on them,” he said.

Mr. Pearce, who has been at PRISMS for a year, said the plan has been to expand since he came in. “I don’t think we’re sustainable at just 80 students,” he said. “I think that’s a problem the previous school [American Boychoir] faced.”

He said he has not approached any neighboring homeowners about selling their houses, “but we do get phone calls and people ask us if we are interested,” he said. “If that happens, we do approach them.”

Houses purchased by the school will be turned into staff accommodation, offices, and possibly an art center. “As we expand, we’ll use them for whatever purpose we see fit at the time,” he said.

An organized group of neighbors is seeking legal support and forming a 501C-3. “We have a neighborhood and we enjoy it,” said one resident, who was advised not to identify himself. “We’d like to preserve it and we’d be happy if the school would preserve the R1 zoning. They could do some development, as long as they’re respectful of the neighborhood.”

The neighborhood meeting will be held at PRISMS on May 27 at 7 p.m.