Princeton Enjoys a Quiet Week on the Municipal Agenda -- and a Chance to Catch Up on the Seminary's Renovation of Historic Houses

Princeton, NJ – This is the week that wasn’t – or this is the week that isn’t – in Princeton municipal circles. It’s the last week in July and the beginning of August. Almost everyone has figured out how to take the week off.

Almost. Except for the good guys from Mercer County Improvement Authority who collect our recycling on Monday, July 29; the Board of Education, which has a closed meeting later on Monday with an undisclosed agenda; Council member Leighton Newlin, who will hold his weekly listening session on Wednesday, July 31, at 11 a.m. at Hilton’s clothing store at 221 Witherspoon Street; the Flood and Storm Water Commission, which will meet via Zoom on Friday, August 2; and the poor guy at TAPinto Princeton who drew the short straw and has to make sense of this week.

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The easy part is what’s happening. We summarized it above and have the listing information below.

The hard part is trying to sum up what happened last week, particularly at the Historic Preservation Commission and its hearing on the Princeton Theological Seminary’s controversial applications to renovate five historic Charles Steadman houses on Alexander Street owned by the Princeton Theological Seminary.

First the bottom line, for those who also want to move on to other, more fun activities this week, and then the background. Some disclosure here: The official proceedings of the last Historic Preservation Commission meeting on this subject, a five-hour event last Tuesday, July 23, has not yet been officially summarized and a video of the in-person meeting has not yet been posted to the municipality’s YouTube channel. So our observations below are drawn from notes taken during only the first two hours of the July 23 meeting and follow-up e-mails with participants.

The bottom line . The Princeton Theological Seminary has been approved to move ahead with its revised plan to renovate the five Steadman houses on Alexander Street, updating the siding and replacing the windows to make the homes more energy efficient and livable. The Seminary will not replace the existing siding with artificial Hardie Plank, as was originally proposed, but will instead use natural cedar siding, the material used in the original construction.

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The house at 31 Alexander Street, which has a front façade visible from Alexander Street and a long side view visible to motorists and pedestrians coming up Alexander toward Mercer Street, was approved with special conditions. When renovating both its front and side facades, the Seminary must remove the existing siding, install the sheathing, insultation, and water/vapor barrier, and then reuse the original siding.

The neighbors, specifically the Mercer Hill Historic District Association, had demanded that the Seminary provide an “existing conditions report” prepared by an independent consultant, which the neighbors believed was required by the historic preservation ordinance. But that requirement apparently only applies when an applicant seeks approval through the Planning Board – not the case in this instance. The Seminary says it did allow three Historic Preservation Commission members to walk through the properties on July 20.

The background . The application from the Princeton Theological Seminary seemed simple enough.

The general project objectives included:

• Rehabilitate 5 existing buildings in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.

• Recognize buildings as contributing resources in the Mercer Hill Historic District.

• Acknowledge significance of four Steadman buildings.

• Retain or restore significant character-defining historic elements.

• Improve energy efficiency.

• Improve occupant comfort & convenience.

• Provide basis for long-term maintenance.

The original proposal put forward by the Seminary included replacing the cedar siding with Hardie Plank. That alarmed the neighbors and other historic preservationists in town. So did the proposal to replace the original windows with Marvin replacement windows.

In a letter to Town Topics a neighbor noted that the Historic Preservation Ordinance defines demolition as “to partially or completely take down a structure or a part thereof.” Specifically, the neighbor referred to “the demolition of all siding and replacement of windows of a historic home at 44 Mercer Street,” which had already occurred, and to the proposal to make similar renovations to five other Seminary-owned houses on Alexander Street -- numbers 15-17, 19, 25-27, 29, and 31 Alexander.

The headline of the letter in Town Topics was “Trend of Demolishing Historic Buildings In Town’s Historic Areas Must Be Stopped.”

An article in TAPinto Princeton questioned whether the word “demolition” was being used in an inflammatory way, since no building was being considered for “demolition” in the ordinary sense of the word.

That may have been a rhetorical question for newspaper and digital news readers. But it also turned out to be a legal question for the Historic Preservation Commission’s attorney, who in advance of the Commission’s July 23 meeting issued an eight-page memorandum clarifying that the Seminary was not applying to demolish anything other than a small rear addition at 29 Alexander Street. If the Seminary were actually applying to demolish structures in the historic district, it would have “to go through a separate review process to obtain a permit to proceed,” according to Michael Herbert’s July 19 memo.

But the HPC had not filed notice of any demolition hearing. As Herbert wrote in the memo: “At the HPC’s previous July 15 meeting, a discussion about these applications resulted in considerable confusion about the applicable standards for what constitutes a demolition and the ultimate standards applicable to projects within the district.”

Herbert stated that applications before the board, apart from the rear addition at 29 Alexander Street, “do not implicate review, noticing, or other elements of demolition.”

Had Herbert viewed the application as a demolition proposal, that probably would have sent the entire proceeding back to the drawing board, with a different form of legal noticing. Several weeks of hearings might have gone down the drain.

Instead the final hearing went ahead on July 23. It was a five-hour event, with the Seminary again presenting its overview and the Mercer Hill Historic District Association, led by neighbor Jack Kerr, presenting its case for minimal changes to the historic fabric of the structures and their windows.

The Seminary’s compromise was to eliminate the Hardie Plank and to give special care to the building at 31 Alexander Street, part of the visual gateway for motorists entering town from Route 1 and Alexander Road. Some of the details will be 21 ^st century, but the overall visual impression should remain early 19 ^th century.

The week’s schedule . Below are details of upcoming events on the municipal calendar. Zoom links to meetings are included when available as of Sunday, July 28. Check the municipal calendar for more recent information regarding access via Zoom.

Monday, July 29

Recycling Day.

6 to 8 p.m.: Princeton Public Schools Board of Education, special closed session, 25 Valley Road.

Wednesday, July 31

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Leighton Listens, Hilton's Princeton, 221 Witherspoon Street. Informal meet-up with Princeton Council member Leighton Newlin.

Friday, August 2

10 a.m. to Noon: Flood and Storm Water Commission, via Zoom.

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