To the Editor:

In response to residents’ urging and the near universal dismay at teardowns, the Planning Board has formed a task force to determine and protect the defining characteristics of Princeton’s various neighborhoods. Urban planner Mark Keener has been hired to work with the task force and “existing neighborhood groups” to establish criteria for post-consolidation rewriting of zoning ordinances. We can be glad that the governing body is finally addressing these issues.

We note two points: the task force itself includes the mayor and standing members of the Planning Board and Council, but no other residents. And the stakeholders listed at the first meeting by staff Planner Lee Solow and Administrator Marc Dashield included only realtors, builders, and developers, no residents.

Roman Barsky, the builder of so many big new houses, once told me that Mt. Lucas Road between Jefferson and Ewing is “underdeveloped.”

Lee Solow himself has called Princeton’s smaller homes “obsolete,” adding that families now want bigger houses. Yet realtors report that young families cannot buy in Princeton because the stock of smaller houses is disappearing. What kind of housing will be “affordable” here?

Wanda Gunning, chair of the Planning Board and a member of the task force, stated at a public meeting I attended that ever since consolidation, the board has been “too busy” to review architectural drawings from builders who appear before them requesting permits. The result is that no town official, including those responsible for granting variances, or exceptions to existing zoning ordinances, knows quite what a new house will look like, how it will compare with existing houses or affect the streetscape. Will it block the light to its neighbors? Will windows look into a neighbor’s bath or bedroom? Will two garage doors face the street? Will there be no windows on the street side?

No ordinance can prevent all problems, but previously a neighbor could see the drawings, assess details, and get the builder to address them. Without this kind of detail, such questions are not asked.

I live here because I want to live in a town with a sense of community, varied architecture, lots of trees, and an enlightened citizenry. How about you? Keener, the consultant, suggested that his first step might be to interview residents. Let’s hope that will happen before the town slips out from under us.

Mary Clurman

Harris Road