Princeton's Hun School Ordinance 'Defeated' Says Official Review

PRINCETON, NJ – The Council on Monday couldn't reach a decision on the Hun School zoning change ordinance.

Three council members voted yes, one voted no, and two abstained. The outcome was unclear. There were many questions - had the motion passed, had it not, or was it a tie, making the Mayor eligible to vote?

Municipal attorney Trishka Cecil requested additional time to review the procedural rules. She delivered her opinion on Oct. 26 – the Hun School ordinance had failed.

“I have since had an opportunity to review the case law and governing statutes, and it is my conclusion that the ordinance was defeated,” Cecil said in a letter.

“As noted above, there were six Council members present at the October 25 meeting, all six of whom were eligible to vote. Only three of the six Council members voted in favor of adopting the ordinance, however—one vote short of a majority. The ordinance therefore failed to pass.”

During Monday’s meeting, Richard Goldman, attorney for the Hun School asked Mayor Mark Freda if he would cast a "provisional vote" pending Cecil's research into the matter. Freda said his vote would be no.

In her letter, Cecil concluded that under applicable case law, the abstentions did not create a tie for the mayor to break. “Abstentions are neither affirmative votes nor negative votes — they are not votes at all. Here, then, the vote was 3 to 1 in favor of adoption—not a tie,” she said.

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Cecil said the roll call on the ordinance should be recorded as three votes in favor of the motion to adopt, one vote against, two abstentions, and no vote cast by the Mayor. “The result is that the ordinance failed to pass because less than a majority of the Council members present voted in favor of adoption,” Cecil said.

Many residents opposed the ordinance as they felt the school constructing a multistory building would not compliment the neighborhood and would be "dramatically, aggressively out of scale." They said that the new building would also increase traffic to the area.

The Hun School in Princeton is seeking zoning map change on two parcels of property to allow academic support uses.

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