Overcrowding persists in John-Witherspoon neighborhood

Despite tougher ordinances, neighbors claim problem continues.

By: Jennifer Potash
   Princeton Borough has met with some early success in stopping overcrowded rental units in the John-Witherspoon neighborhood, according to borough officials.
   But residents claim the problems have not dissipated since the Borough Council adopted several new ordinances.
   "I don’t think anyone can say the ordinances have precluded overcrowding," Jim Floyd, a former mayor of Princeton Township, said Saturday at a neighborhood meeting organized by Princeton Future.
   Residents of the John-Witherspoon neighborhood, the historically black and most densely populated area in the borough, have long complained about rental properties housing as many as 15 people and excessive garbage strewn on the properties. Many of the properties are inhabited by newly arrived residents, many from Central American countries, residents say.
   The Borough Council has acknowledged the problem and last year adopted two ordinances that allow borough housing inspectors to give summonses without warnings to habitual offenders and when rental properties fail to meet basic health and safety regulations.
   Earlier this year, the council put on the books two additional ordinances, one that allows it to seek a conviction if a landlord’s property has the appearance of individuals living in the basement or attics and if there are multiple refrigerators inside or outside the property.
   The other ordinance removed the option of imposing imprisonment as part of the sentence. This change shifted the violation from a quasi-criminal measure to a civil measure, thus changing the standard of proof needed for a guilty finding from the higher reasonable doubt to simply a preponderance of the evidence, Assistant Princeton Borough Attorney Karen Cayci has said.
   The new ordinances made a difference in the overcrowded rental units, said Bill Drake, the borough’s fire safety and building code inspector.
   "The ordinances we have now have given us the ability to enforce overcrowding without having to do it in the middle of the night, which is something we should never do and would never do," he said.
   Two charges of overcrowding in the John-Witherspoon neighborhood are on the Princeton Borough Municipal Court next month, Mr. Drake said.
   The department’s inspectors "actively observe" the units for signs of overcrowding, he said. When the inspectors observe a violation — such as excess garbage on the site or garbage not kept in cans — the inspectors give the tenants and owners a warning and then reinspect the property to ensure the violation has been addressed, Mr. Drake said. If the problem occurs again, he said, a summons is issued.
   Minnie Craig, a Witherspoon Street resident, said at Saturday’s meeting that she recently called police after tenants in a neighboring rental property refused to pick up litter surrounding the house. The lot was cleaned up, Ms. Craig said, but about 20 people still continue to live in the house.
   Others at the meeting urged more outreach to the newer neighbors.
   Janet Martin, a Birch Avenue resident, said she asked her neighbor who was playing loud music to lower the volume and the neighbor complied.
   "We have to talk to our neighbors," she said.
   Another woman at the meeting, who said she recently moved to Princeton Borough, suggested inviting representatives from the Hispanic community in Princeton to such neighborhood meetings.
   Mr. Floyd said he would look into that proposal.
   Yina Moore, a Green Street resident and member of the Regional Planning Board of Princeton, said one problem is that many borough residents are willing to accept overcrowded rental properties in the John-Witherspoon neighborhood because they view the properties as affordable housing for newly arrived immigrants.
   In addition to taking action under the borough ordinances, she said, the municipality ought to go after the "root causes" of overcrowding such as the lack of affordable housing for the immigrants and the low salaries offered to them.
   Mr. Drake said overcrowding problems also have arisen at rental properties in other borough neighborhoods, but those instances tend to be limited to one or two properties.