Council to vote on Hun School zoning change, cannabis ordinance, abolition of local assistance board, leaf and brush consultant Monday night

The Princeton Council will decide Monday night whether to grant the Hun School a zoning change for properties next to the campus that are currently in a residential district. The Hun School wants to place the properties, which are already part of the school, in an education district. The two properties are the Mason House, which was formerly the headmaster’s home, and the Mall, a linear green space stretching from the campus at its easterly end to Hun Road.

Officials said Mason House has been used for academic support space to free up room elsewhere on campus for use by the infirmary during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mason House is no longer needed as a residence because the headmaster now lives in the Johnson House, a recent gift to the school from Betty Wold Johnson. The Mall is proposed to be kept undeveloped in perpetuity.

The Hun School has asked for the zoning map change to allow academic support uses
on the Mason House site, including an arts center and administrative offices, and to add
the floor area ratio generated by the green space to the overall campus floor area ratio. This additional floor area ratio would give the school more space to meet town regulations for additions or improvements to other existing facilities.

Also on the agenda, a public hearing will be held about the assessments for new public sanitary sewer mains on Snowden Lane and Van Dyke Road.

The council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance to initially ban cannabis business in the municipality while the 23-member local cannabis task force studies the issue more.

Officials decided last month that the town should send individual residents who need general assistance to county offices in Trenton instead of serving them at municipal offices in Princeton. The council will now vote on introducing an ordinance abolishing the local assistance board.

A vote will also be taken on what to do with more than $225,000 in federal funds for low-income residents as part of the Community Development Block Grant Program, and the 2020 plan will also be amended.

Health Officer Jeff Grosser will also give an update on the local situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The town’s contract with Central Jersey Waste for solid waste collection is slated to be increased by about $110,000 due to large amounts of trash being picked up, as well as the implementation of a semi-automated collection five days a week instead of four days a week.

Officials will also consider a resolution to hire a consultant for up to $20,500 to look at the municipality’s leaf, brush, and solid waste collection programs.

The council will also vote on whether or not to approve the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad’s request to buy a new rescue truck.

Officials also will vote on a contract with a company called WSP USA for $14,624.47 to investigate whether rectangular rapid flashing beacons are permitted by the New Jersey Department of Transportation on the Route 206 crosswalks at Herrontown Road and Mansgrove Road.

The council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. via Zoom.