Report: Four Planning Board Members to Recuse Themselves From 7-11 Hearing

Four of the nine members of the Princeton Planning Board, including Mayor Liz Lempert, said they will recuse themselves when the board considers plans for a proposed 7-11 on Nassau Street, the Princeton Packet reports.

Lempert said she will recuse herself because her husband, Ken Norman, is a tenured professor at Princeton University, according to the report. The University owns a driveway that goes through the former West Coast Video site.

Board Members Wanda Gunning and Fern Spruill will also have to recuse themselves because their husbands have connections to the University, and Board Member Gail Ullman will recuse herself because she lives within 200 feet of the property, according to the report.

At least five members of the board must be able to hear the case. In addition to the nine regular members, there are two alternates.

The hearing is tentatively set for March 19, according to the report.

The 7-11 was first proposed in July.

Since then, Princeton Council passed an ordinance that would limit the hours of operation of businesses in residential hours. Businesses would have to close between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Generally, 7-11 is open 24 hours a day.

While some people in that part of town have opposed the idea, at least one person supports it.

On Dec. 5, resident Jim Levine wrote a Letter to the Editor to Princeton Patch saying he compares 7-11 to Davidson’s, an old convenience store that was open in the area 20 years ago.

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