23-25 Humbert Street, the possible site for three townhouses proposed as part of an application under consideration by the Princeton Planning Board.

An applicant seeking to build three townhouses on Humbert Street in Princeton advised the Princeton Planning Board tonight that the application is to be revised and reconsidered at a later date. The Planning Board had been expected to vote on the proposal tonight, after a lengthy hearing and extensive public comment last month. 

Three townhouses are proposed as part of the application, which would be replacing a duplex that formerly stood on the site, and has now been demolished. (See report: “Three-unit Townhouse Development Proposed for Humbert Street in Princeton“.) The townhouses would be built to a very high sustainability standard, and would be extremely walkable to downtown Princeton. Some neighbors were unimpressed with the plan, however, describing it variously as “a Soviet-era type structure” and “too much like workers’ places” (see report: “Humbert Street Neighbors Lambaste Princeton Townhouse Proposal“). Consideration of the proposal was continued to tonight’s meeting after the Planning Board ran out of time to take a vote at their meeting in April.

Princeton municipal planner Michael LaPlace and Planning Board attorney Gerald Muller explained that municipal staff had met with the applicant after the previous meeting, and expressed concerns about whether the full range of variances required for the application had been correctly noticed in communications to neighbors. In response, the applicant has agreed to revise their application, and send new notifications to neighbors that more clearly articulate the variances that are being requested. New materials will be circulated to the Planning Board members, and there will be another opportunity for the public to express comments regarding changes to the proposal.

The revised application is expected to be heard at the Planning Board meeting on July 1, 2021.