Planning Board advisors and architect clash over aesthetics.
By: David Campbell
Good taste is a matter of opinion, but can those opinions be drawn on by municipal planning advisers to reject proposals they deem aesthetically displeasing?
The Site Plan Review Advisory Board of the Princeton Regional Planning Board in February narrowly rejected a facade designed by architect Jeremiah Ford of the West Windsor firm Ford Farewell Mills and Gatsch for the new Ace Hardware at the Princeton Shopping Center.
The architectural firm has won awards for much of its restoration work, including the State House complex in Trenton and Princeton University’s Graduate College, Alexander Hall and Whig and Clio halls. It also counts awards for its new design work, including the Middlesex County Courthouse.
But Mr. Ford’s design for a gabled roof canopy entrance to the parking-lot side of the hardware store in the shopping center was described by the advisory board as "a classical pastiche or hodgepodge," and inconsistent with the center’s "existing coherent character."
Board members urged Mr. Ford to complete a design master plan he currently is developing for the entire shopping center, maintaining that with such directives in place, the facade would be easier to accept as a "creative variance" rather than "just a banal anomaly."
The review board has jurisdiction to reject minor site plan proposals, but applicants may appeal to the Planning Board which was precisely the approach taken by Ace Hardware’s attorney, Thomas Letizia.
"We had hoped to avoid coming before you on this design," Mr. Letizia told the Planning Board at its March 21 meeting. He noted the design complied with the township’s ordinances and said that "it really does come down to aesthetics."
Mr. Ford said his client, Yardville Supply Co., was frustrated with the advisory board’s disapproval of a minor design element in its application, particularly given that the shopping center consists of six different buildings of varying look and design.
Following the advisory board rejection, Yardville Supply decided to withdraw the architect’s designs for a courtyard entryway to the store. But it retained the gabled design for the parking-lot side of the shopping center, which Mr. Ford described as "dismal" and "a long, dreary facade."
"I’m a little turned off by the supposition that there’s some kind of pure image when coming up with a design for Ace Hardware," he said. "Ace needs to have some identity, some ‘punch’ so people know they’re there. What we’re trying to do is hardly a major jolt."
Planning Board attorney Allen Porter indicated aesthetics should not be the sole grounds for denial but said it does fall under the board’s regulatory powers.
At the Planning Board’s March 21 meeting, Princeton Borough Mayor and board member Marvin Reed said he didn’t want to "spend two hours here talking aesthetics" but asked if the Ace design could be more consistent with other signs on the parking lot side of the building.
Princeton Township Mayor and board member Phyllis Marchand said without a design master plan for the whole shopping center, she was reluctant to support the gabled roof design, saying, "I would opt for keeping it the same."
Other board members weighed in as well. Gail Ullman said she leaned "toward punch rather than non-punch," and Wanda Gunning said identifying logos for a company like Ace are necessary in today’s marketplace. Peter Madison said a master plan is needed.
Mr. Ford, apparently hedging his bets following the advisory board’s denial in February, presented the Planning Board with an alternate facade design that extends the roof line over the Ace doorway with two supporting posts.
"I’ve eliminated what SPRAB considered to be a pastiche," he said of the new concept which the Planning Board unanimously approved.