Linden Lane Townhouse Project Hearing Postponed In Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ — Public hearing on the proposed three-unit townhouse development proposed for 39 Linden Lane was postponed due to a technical issue.

Simplify Living Inc, a Metuchen-based company, is seeking minor site plan approval to build three townhomes. According to officials, Simplify Living placed an ad in the newspaper on Jan. 24, which happened to be the same day the Princeton Planning Development staff issued a review memorandum.

There was a discrepancy in the number of variances sought by the developer and the number of variances identified by the staff. This led Planning Board attorney Gerald Muller to suggest a rescheduling of the public hearing.

"The law requires that all variance requests be specifically identified in the notice. I counted 16 or 17 variances that were necessary according to Jim Purcell and Derek (Bridger) ... So, I determined that this happened very late, that the notice was defective and the Board did not have jurisdiction, Mueller said.

A "defective" notice means the Board cannot hold a public hearing on the matter, Mueller said.

Many neighbors attended the virtual meeting on Feb. 3, before being informed that the hearing was postponed.

Among the variances being sought are for individual lot size, lot depth, width, rear and front yard setback. The minimum lot width is 60 feet, but the existing lot is 50 feet. An existing single-family home on the site has been demolished in anticipation of building the three townhomes.

Each townhouse will include a living room, two bedrooms, a dining room, and a kitchen. The development will include six on-site parking spaces – three in the rear and one next to each unit. The development also comes with two off-street parking spaces per unit, with one driveway being used for all three units. According to submitted documents the driveway will have electric vehicle chargers.

The entrance of the first unit will face Linden Lane, the second unit will face the driveway and the entrance for the third unit will face the rear.

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