A proposal to build two new homes in Princeton North has come under attack from an anonymous objector group. The group, which calls itself “Save Our Streetscapes” has launched a website (link: “Save Our Streetscapes“) and Facebook group urging residents to Zoom into a meeting of the Princeton Planning Board on Thursday night, April 18, when the application is on the agenda for discussion.
The property in question is at 479 Jefferson Road, at the corner of Jefferson Road and Cuyler Road. (map). A single-family home dating to 1955 currently occupies the site. Real estate records show that it was sold in February 2023 for $950K. A proposal to subdivide the lot and build two new single-family homes has been submitted to the Planning Board. The application is from “Estate Shore LLC”, a company owned by two local residents, Sanjay Dasgupta and Ugur Kaytmaz. The applicants are represented by Ryan Kennedy, who, in addition to being a planning attorney, is also the recently-elected Mayor of Hopewell Borough.
The subdivision would create two 0.23 acre lots out of the existing 0.46 acre lot. These new lots would be only fractionally smaller than the 0.25 acre minimum required by the local R-6 zoning, but that would still require a variance. Although the property has an address of 479 Jefferson Road, both of the new homes would front onto Cuyler Road according to the current application.
The “Save Our Streetscapes” group identifies as a non-profit, although no record of the group exists in state databases, and no officers or representatives of the group are named. Whoever is behind the group seems infuriated by the possibility that one of the new homes might be built within a mandatory setback from Jefferson Road. The original subdivision application indicated that one of the homes would be built just 22.4 ft away from Jefferson Road, instead of the 47-ft required by the zoning code. The objector group argues that the 47-ft setback is essential “to maintain Jefferson Road’s unique streetscape and preserve front yard open space”.
Based on materials in the application packet, however, it seems that the applicant has already altered the layout of the new homes to maintain the required 47-ft setback. This change appears to have been made after discussions with municipal planning staff. That might not be the end of the story, however, because municipal staff expressed a different concern, that the new house at the corner would not face onto Jefferson Road, as is the case for all the other homes on that section of Jefferson Road. It remains to be seen whether the applicant is willing or able to address this potential issue.
“Save Our Streetscapes” joins “Save Jugtown” and “Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development” as groups who are objecting to plans for new homes in Princeton. “Save Jugtown” are upset about a proposed mixed-income development on east Nassau Street. The “Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development” is suing the town to attempt to block a proposed mixed-income development on the old Princeton Seminary Lands, and also to overturn the entire new Princeton Master Plan.
The Princeton Planning Board agenda for April 18 includes discussion of the Jefferson Road subdivision, although it is currently listed as second on the agenda after discussion of another subdivision on the Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart school site.
Relevant links (via princetonnj.gov):
walkableprinceton 