By Anton “Tony” Nelessen
Dear Editor:
Bank Street residents were violated once again by the action of the Princeton Zoning Board of Adjustment as the board unanimously approved the massive new hotel on Chambers Street. The board granted variances for insufficient parking and approved a bulky building with a floor area ratio nearly three times over what is allowed, with only a 4-foot average setback from the residential historic district at the ground level and a massive 65-foot-high blank brick wall facing Bank Street, most of it only six inches from the property line. The building steals light, air views, and privacy. The western facade looks like a massive windowless warehouse or a prison from the southern end of Bank Street. What the Bank Street residents got in return for their hours of meeting, testimony and exhibits was one small tree. This in return for the next 100 years of a blank wall and additional traffic on Bank Street as drivers search for the entrance to the hote
Opinion: Bank Street residents support Graduate Hotel, but object to variances
All of the homeowners on Bank Street in Princeton who shared comments and objections with the Princeton Zoning Board of Adjustment and the hotel group in the meetings leading up to the vote on Feb. 8 have something in common: we all agree that the proposed Graduate Hotel will positively impact the Central Business District. Our intent was never to stop the project.
However, we did object to four of the seven variances sought by GPNJ Owner LLC. Those variances dealt with the structure’s height, which will increase from 32 to 65 feet, the 10-foot setback required in a residential (and historic) zone, excessive floor area ratio, and not meeting parking space requirements. Each separate variance was related to the other. If one variance were denied or changed, it would have brought the other two or three variances closer to compliance with town ordinances. And the Bank Street neighbors would have supported
A rendering of the Chanbers Street entrance to the future hotel in Princeton.
After more than 5 and a half hours of testimony and discussion, the Princeton Zoning Board voted unanimously on Monday night to approve plans for a 180-room hotel at the corner of Nassau and Chambers streets.
The project will take 24 to 26 months to complete.
Just after 1 a.m., the board voted to approve Graduate Hotel’s plans for 20 Nassau Street. Neighbors from the historic Bank Street area next to the property objected to the size and scale of the project on Monday night.
Near the end of the meeting, Michael LaPlace, the town’s planner, told the zoning board he thought the positives of the project outweigh the negatives. “This is an overwhelmingly positive project for the municipality,” he said, adding that the developer is willing to work with the neighborhood.
Residents to resume testimony for proposed hotel project at 20 Nassau St. ×
20 Nassau St. building in Princeton. ANDREW HARRISON/STAFF
The Princeton Zoning Board will continue hearing testimony from the public before it makes a decision on whether to approve the 20 Nassau St. proposed project adapting the building into a hotel.
The public hearing for the application is set to resume on Jan. 20. If approved by the zoning board, the application will then make its way to the Princeton Planning Board for review.
The adapted reuse of the 20 Nassau St. office and retail building on Nassau and Chambers streets for the proposed hotel would be a part of Graduate Hotels, which is a chain of boutique hotels. Graduate Hotels operates more than 20 hotels in locations across the United States.