To the Editor:

Princeton Council will soon introduce an ordinance that, upon passage, will establish the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood as Princeton’s 20th Historic District (HD). I commend Council members Heather Howard, Jenny Crumiller, and Bernie Miller for their enthusiastic support of this measure, which passed unanimously. The “work session” unfolded before a full house, was laced with dozens of passionate speakers from neighbors and their allies — most, focusing on the historic presence and inestimable value of the segregated African-American community in Princeton, but also on the importance of the district to the more recent Latino population.

The boundaries of this HD should be those set forth unanimously by the Historic Preservation Commission on February 22, 2016, without exception, as ably set forth by HPC Administrator Elizabeth Kim and Chair Julie Capozzoli on page 6 of their presentation). The integrity of Witherspoon Street will thus be assured; the HD will then include the historic Sears-Roebuck catalogue homes dating from the 1920s at 190-194 Witherspoon Street, the last of which retains its original porch and stained glass.

This HD needs no “guidelines” beyond those spelled out in Consolidated Ordinance 2014-44. Any builder read about what is expected in terms of building “preservation” or “visual compatibility” or dimensions in relation to height and width, neighboring buildings, porch projections, front lawns, roof shape, etc. By these standards, some of the recent buildings in this HD — which have eliminated porches (the core of street life in the community) — and “make an architect’s statement” but do not resemble the neighborhood’s styles over a 100-year period would not have been allowed. Some are eyesores; others unnecessarily shadow neighbors’ homes.

Among the many aims of this HD are these: preserve buildings and architectural styles which have been key to this community’s survival; control tear-downs and the erection of dysfunctional mansions; steady the valuations and thus the taxes, so that neighbors whose families have lived in Witherspoon-Jackson for generations can continue to do so — Princeton’s most affordable, and most diverse. Architects I know have said that HD designation is the most effective method for achieving these goals. While some buildings need repair, preservation (even replication) should take precedence over destruction (often, from the perspective of sustainability, the worst thing you can do to a building).

One of the chief aims of HD designation is to “foster civic pride” in our history and architecture (Art. XIII. Sec.10B-373[3]). All Princeton, and not only the people of Witherspoon-Jackson, whose homes from Nassau Street north to the vanished Jackson Street have been demolished or “removed,” should indeed feel satisfied that, as a community, we will come together to overcome the shames of the past and to build on our shared history to make us better.

The “usable past” (Van Wyck Brooks’s phrase) is what is of value to create the future. I urge Princeton Council to pass an HD ordinance with the HPC boundaries intact, and to acknowledge the thorough and sufficient guidelines in 2014-44.

Daniel A. Harris

Dodds Lane