To the Editor:

The following is a letter I sent to the Princeton Zoning Board. Since I cannot attend the Zoning Board hearing this Wednesday (May 23 at 7:30 p.m.), I had hoped to communicate my views in writing but was informed that written communications cannot be entered into the record unless the author is present at the meeting. I hope that other neighbors will be able to attend the meeting and echo my concerns, as well as their own.

In April 2017, Sunrise presented their plans for the facility at a meeting with neighborhood residents. They explained their justification for building on that site, and discussed a number of reasons why an assisted living/memory care facility would be more desirable for the neighborhood than traditional senior housing. They proposed a facility that would face Terhune, standing two stories at the end near Harrison, and one story at the end toward Grover. With parking in front, the building itself was set back so it would not loom over Terhune, and there was plenty of space for plantings and trees that would soften the facade. Although any development of the site would require the elimination of the white pines that currently front Terhune, those old, fragile trees are already becoming less attractive than they used to be (with constant loss of limbs in storms), and Sunrise would replace them with native species that would be hardier.

Earlier this month, Sunrise presented to the Zoning Board a plan for a very different three-story building that would be set close to both Harrison and Terhune. The building is similar to buildings in the center of Princeton, but not at all in the character of the single-family homes on Terhune and Grover. Like many of my neighbors, I was dismayed by the changed design. Sunrise representatives explained the new design reflected the wishes of some Princeton officials, who apparently believe that residents of the proposed facility would have more interaction with us if the building looms over the sidewalks beside the roads. As a resident who constantly walks in the neighborhood, I can assure you that I would be more likely to cross to the opposite side of Terhune, where I will still be able to see the sky!

In response to the neighbors’ opposition to the three-story building, Sunrise has assured us that they intend to revert to the April 2017 design, which fits into our neighborhood and will not require variances to the setback requirements along Harrison and Terhune, or to the building height requirements. I urge you to accept their one/two-story design, and not insist on turning a pleasant, landscaped residential facility into an assisted-living McMansion.

Beverly Wilson

Terhune Road