Council members passed an ordinance to make the neighborhood an historic district, nearly a year after they began considering the proposal
PRINCETON - The Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, which has been known as a home to minority families for over a century, will finally be listed as the 20th historic district in Princeton.
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A map of the proposed historic Witherspoon Jackson neighborhood, brought forth at a special council meeting in March, 2016. Council members decided to label the neighborhood - which stretches from Paul Robeson Place down to Birch Avenue - historic in a unanimous vote Monday night.
Certain properties in the neighborhood remain listed as vacant and others will not contribute to the district, most notably, the properties at the upper right and left hand corners of the neighborhood's map. Some are commercial properties and others are already part of a larger district, Planning Director Lee Solow said Monday.
The decision comes after nearly a year of debate within the town.
Supporters of the historic district, many of whom live in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, have pointed to the neighborhood's history in the late 1800's and early 1900's as a place for African American families when Princeton was a segregated town.
Many residents have argued that the neighborhood's history deserves official recognition.
Princeton neighborhood draws debate
Others have raised concerns about the potentially rising cost of property taxes in the neighborhood once it becomes an historic district.
On Monday, the discussion surrounding the negative and positive aspects of delineating the historic district, continued.
A cemetery, which abuts some buildings in the district and partly lies inside the district, caused some confusion. The cemetery section was added to the district by accident but council members opted to pass the ordinance and correct the mistake later.
Councilmembers Jo Butler and Patrick Simon also raised questions about the increased cost of home repairs if the neighborhood were made historic.
"My intention is to be as transparent as possible. We can go ahead with this. We incur expenses all the time that probably increase taxes but we should be clear about it," Butler said.
Many speakers addressed council members Monday night to discuss the historic nature of the district and give their support for the ordinance before council members made their decision.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
