At the Historic Preservation Commission Special Meeting on May 14, 15, the HPC unanimously voted to deny the developer’s application to demolish the rear of the Hornor House at 344 Nassau St, and to send to the Planning Board the objections raised by the Historic Preservation Officer, Elizabeth Kim, in her report on the application. The outcomes was a major win for Save Jugtown. 

The expert testimony offered by our experts, Clifford Zink, David Kinsey, Mark Hewitt and Cathy Knight, and ably managed by our attorney Bruce Afran, was central in our case against the plan to subsume the Hornor House by a new apartment building to be built alongside, around and over the existing house. We received huge support from the community, all of whom spoke against the plan. It was abundantly clear that the plan did not meet the rules for historic preservation. 

The HPC had two responsibilities in this application.

• One was whether to approve the demolition of the rear part of the existing house, an addition from 1985. The demolition of this was needed to allow this massive addition.
• The second job was to make a recommendation to the Planning Board, which is the ultimate approval agency for the application.

The Commission voted to deny approval for the demolition, and to recommend to the Planning Board against the application. We appreciate the results by HPC. Now we wait to see how RB Homes responds to this. Think of this as the first battle in the war. 

Please consider donating to Save Jugtown so we can continue fighting! 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-jugtown-legal-defense-fund

More background:

 

 

This is being proposed for 344 Nassau Street in Jugtown Historic District in Princeton, NJ!

 Why We are Concerned?  The proposed 4-story addition will: 

1) Overwhelm the 18th century original home on that corner, shown on right side of rendering.

2) Significantly harm the Jugtown Historic District by not conforming to the Historic Preservation Ordinance

3) Worsen the already dangerous traffic and pedestrian conditions at the Nassau-Harrison intersection.

4) Set the precedent for future 4-story additions on all corners of this historic crossroads of Nassau and Harrison streets.

Jugtown residents organized as the Save Jugtown Coalition, a non-profit NJ corporation, is looking to get this application modified.   We are neighbors and Princeton, NJ residents who believe that new development in historic districts should follow existing preservation guidelines.  

What are we asking for? 

1)  Addition that fully respects the character of the Jugtown Historic District on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.

2) Project compliance with the standards and criteria of Princeton’s Historic Preservation Ordinance.

3) Appropriate setbacks.