Decision on Humbert Street development postponed until July

A planning board vote on a proposal to build a triplex at 23-25 Humbert Street in downtown Princeton has been delayed until July 1.

Municipal Planner Michael LaPlace told the Princeton Planning Board on Thursday night that staff members went over some application issues with the lawyer for Metuchen-based developer Simplify Living and determined that the application for the site plan for the property requires more variances.

“It’s a very unusual configuration, and a number of variances were pointed out in the report from (staff),” Princeton Planning Board Lawyer Gerald Muller said. “As the staff looked further at it (the application), they thought more variances were necessary. Given the circumstance that more variances were necessary, variances have to be specifically noted in a notice.”

A new public notice that includes the additional variances being requested will be published. At the next hearing on the project at 7:30 p.m. on July 1, members of the public will be able to comment on the new variances, but not on matters already discussed at the May 6 public meeting.

Several people in the Humbert Street neighborhood spoke out against the projects on Thursday because of the density as well as issues related to parking and an access road. A few properties share the access road, which has a permanent easement. Some of the neighbors have hired a lawyer to represent them.

A duplex previously existed at 23-25 Humbert Street and has been demolished. The proposed triplex would be two stories plus a basement, and would include three apartments.

Previous Planet Princeton coverage about the planning board’s May 6 hearing on the project can be found here.