To the Editor:

We propose a compromise regarding the Hun School’s application for the rezoning of two parcels of land owned by them (the Mall and the Mason House lot) that are contiguous with private neighborhood residences. After having discussed the question of the school’s application with some members of the Princeton Council, we, as members of the Edgerstoune neighborhood, offer the following amendments to the school’s plan in a spirit of goodwill and conciliation.

In exchange for the two modest adjustments sketched below to the school’s proposed plan, we believe that a consensus about the neighborhood’s varied uses could be achieved, that the school will be able to pursue its goals for expansion of its facilities on its campus, and that a significant tract of the area’s green space, one vital to the appeal of both the school and of neighborhood life, could be maintained.

The two adjustments to the current rezoning application that we propose are:

1. That the Hun School replace Mason House with its projected new building on as much of the house’s current footprint as possible, and that the new structure be built as close to the corner of Edgerstoune and Winant Roads as zoning regulations allow.

In exchange for the compromise here proposed, we, the school’s Edgerstoune neighbors, will not oppose a slightly larger structure on the Mason House lot than the Hun School has proposed (thus raising the maximum square footage of a potential building from 9,000 to 10,000 square feet, on a footprint not to exceed 3,333 square feet) – as this, we hope, in good faith, will facilitate their future plans.

2. That the Hun School agree to a deed restriction (or some similar legal instrument) that will guarantee that nothing further will be built on the Mason House lot and that the remainder of the lot be preserved as an open green space.

The positive effects of these minor amendments to the Hun School’s proposals are four-fold:

• They would allow the school to pursue its real needs for expansion in the future by allowing it to benefit from an increase of more than 25,500 square feet of potential building space (FAR) that would be the consequence of the rezoning proposal;

• They would preserve the open, treed green space at the heart of the Edgerstoune neighborhood and at the entry to the school’s property that is a major benefit to all concerned. The proposal will complement the preservation of the Mall lot that the school has already proposed.

• They would respect the spirit and language of the Princeton Master Plan by preserving a crucial “buffer zone” between those areas zoned for residential and educational use.

• Lastly, these amendments would allow the school and the neighborhood to move forward in a collaborative and constructive fashion towards their common goals.

Christina Corsiglia
Hun Road

Michael Koortbojian
Hun Road

Ed Fenwick
Russell Road

Charlotte Friedman
Russell Road