|
|
Vol. LXI, No. 45
|
|
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
|
|
|
|
Vol. LXI, No. 45
|
|
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
|
JANE BUTTARS
Dodds Lane
BROOKS DYER
Lt. Col., USMCR(Ret.)
Ridgeview Road
Spirit of Princeton Committee
PEGGY SKEMER
Robert Road
To the Editor:
The Princeton Ridge is again threatened. Robert Hillier has proposed building 146 condo units north of the Princeton Shopping Center on Bunn Drive. This land has, for almost 50 years, been designated by experts as “environmentally valuable” and “critical habitat” for many species. Both the Princeton Environmental Commission and the Stonybrook Millstone Watershed Association have insisted that no further development be undertaken, and Princeton’s own Master Plan recommends protection.
How can we condemn environmental abuse away from home and campaign for “environmental sustainability” when we don’t recognize the function of open lands in our own backyard? It is folly to destroy areas long determined necessary to preserve our human “habitat” while not exhausting possibilities of converting already developed sites.
Preserving these lands is important not only for the residents living downstream from the Ridge near Harry’s Brook, whose basements already flood due to Ridge geology, but for all of us in Princeton who recognize the value of keeping sensitive areas free, and who may be affected by a precedent set in this case.
Mr. Hillier is requesting a variance to allow zoning for people 55+ (only one per household), presumably because the 62+ zoning already in place will not be profitable enough. Doesn’t this indicate that the purpose of this construction is NOT senior housing?
The presence and opinions of citizens are crucial. Please attend the public meeting of Princeton Township Committee on Monday, November 12 at 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 400 Witherspoon Street, and demand that Committee not only retract its age-restricted “senior overlay ordinance” that allows building on the Ridge, but that it forbid any further development of this area.
JANE BUTTARS
Dodds Lane
To the Editor:
This year, the Princeton Veterans Day ceremony will be held on Monday, November 12 at 11 a.m. instead of the traditional November 11 date. The ceremony, sponsored by the Spirit of Princeton Committee, will be conducted in Princeton in front of the All Wars Monument at the corner of Mercer and Nassau Streets. The public is cordially invited to attend.
Mayors Mildred Trotman of Princeton Borough and Phyllis Marchand of Princeton Township will join area military veterans and the general public to pay homage to all who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. The featured speaker will be Nikolai Stevenson, a Princeton resident with his wife Shirley for the past eight years. Mr. Stevenson joined the U.S. Marine Corps in November 1940. Following officer training, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in June, 1941, five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. In August of 1942, he landed in the first wave on Guadalcanal as an infantry company commander, in charge of four platoons totaling 250 Marines. This was the first major offensive by the U.S. in World War II and was particularly risky because Japan possessed a significant naval superiority in the area. As a result, the Marines received no reinforcements or mail for four months, were reduced to two meals per day, and fought mosquitoes and malaria in addition to the very determined Japanese. The fighting ended in an American victory in February, 1943.
The Rev. Richard Armstrong, Emeritus Professor of the Princeton Theological Seminary and a World War II Navy veteran, will offer the benediction, and Madison Cahill-Sanidas, a student at John Witherspoon Middle School and Member of the Princeton Girlchoir, will sing the national anthem.
Veterans Day was originally celebrated as Armistice Day in commemoration of the armistice that ended World War I at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918 (“the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”). At that time, the terrible carnage inflicted during this war (over 11 million casualties) was believed to have made it “the war to end all wars.” However, following World War II and the Korean Conflict, President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954 changed November 11 from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. And in 1975, President Gerald Ford appropriately declared, “The important purpose of Veterans Day is a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.”
The Spirit of Princeton Committee is a dedicated group of grassroots, nonpartisan volunteers who organize the following civic events in Princeton: Memorial Day Parade, Flag Day, Independence Day Fireworks and the Veterans Day Ceremony.
BROOKS DYER
Lt. Col., USMCR(Ret.)
Ridgeview Road
Spirit of Princeton Committee
To the Editor:
It is a pleasure to see so many of our citizens and school children involved and helping Princeton to be a “Green” place, and that Sustainable Princeton is concerned about pollution, the environment, and healthier life styles.
Does anybody see how the use of leaf blowers fits into this equation? The din is so loud that taking a peaceful walk around our community at this time of year is impossible. Considering how many gardeners are involved simultaneously, and how much time they spend in each yard, I find it hard to believe that rakes wouldn’t be almost as efficient. I realize that this complaint appears periodically in our newspapers, but maybe the garden service lobby is too powerful. It is true that other communities in New Jersey have either banned or severely restricted the use of leaf blowers. The quality of life in this town would be so much improved if we could enjoy our beautiful outdoors without this form of pollution.
PEGGY SKEMER
Robert Road