Thanet Road Office Project Approved Amid Negotiations and Concerns

Matthew Hersh

A plan to transform a two-story, 47,000-square-foot office building on Thanet Circle was okayed by the Regional Planning Board of Princeton Thursday, after concerns about parking and light and sound buffers were heard.

On behalf of the developer, GHP Thanet, Hillier Architecture is proposing to transform the current structure, once the home for the Institute for Defense Analysis, to a modernized office building.

However the plan to reconstruct, restripe, and expand the current 104-space parking lot by adding 111 parking spaces did not sit well with residents when the application was first heard at a June 16 hearing. Most complaints came from residents of nearby Governors Lane and Terhune Road, who worried that the increased activity in the area would offset property values of adjacent homes.

Residents also worried about noise from the rooftop air conditioning unit on the proposed building, as well as parking lot lighting at night.

A negotiation between the residents and the developer resulted in the placing of a five-foot arborvitae hedge atop the site's buffered area that lies around the parking area. As the parking lot slopes down and the retaining wall diminishes, the hedge will continue, increasing to a 12-foot height.

The hedge would screen the view of the parking lot and grow about a foot a year. A six-foot high deer fence will be placed on each side of the arborvitae hedge, resulting in a "packaged hedge," according to the plan's architect, J. Robert Hillier.

Terhune Road resident Louise Witonsky, however, was "very unhappy" with the new landscape plan. "Your planting the hedge will not be effective," she said, adding that attracting deer to the area will compromise safety. Deer are attracted to arborvitae, according to Mr. Hillier.

Ms. Witonsky added that the increased blacktop in the area for parking will exacerbate flooding in the area. Harry's Brook's north tributary runs near the site.

Abram Gabriel, also of Terhune Road, worried about potential noise generated from the building's air conditioning. He also expressed concern about noise stemming from landscape maintenance.