To the Editor:

According to a Town Topics article on page 8 dated August 23, a 76-unit senior community has been proposed at a site near the Princeton Shopping Center at the corner of Harrison Street and Terhune Road. As longtime residents of Princeton, we welcome the application for a much needed community for seniors in our town. That said, it would also be reassuring to know that future residents will be safe in a complex which is built to the highest possible fire safety standards.

Assuming the application is accepted, we believe it would be prudent for Council to request that the developer build the units to incorporate masonry fire walls through the roof. Equally important, they should also include an upgraded sprinkler system which complies with NFPA 13 standards requiring that sprinklers be installed in concealed combustible spaces. This is not required under NFPA 13R, the current acceptable standard for residential complexes. We know that recently some New Jersey developers have voluntarily agreed to meet similar upgraded safety measures for some of their projects.

Some have argued that extra fire safety precautions in construction of multi-residential buildings are not necessary and that building to state code is sufficient. Actually, existing codes are minimum standards and upgrades by developers do not occur often enough. And we have seen from the recent massive fire in Edgewater, New Jersey (Jan. 2015) that building to state code did not prevent that conflagration from happening.

Nor did building to state code in Georgia manage to stop the fire which burned over 70 units of the Marshall Square Community (June 2015) in Evans, Georgia, even though these buildings were rigorously inspected. That fire forced 80 senior residents to evacuate their homes, many in pajamas and using walkers or wheelchairs. From a safe distance, they could only sit back and watch as their homes and all of their belongings were destroyed. One woman, age 91, died in the fire and another 81-year-old woman was rescued after seven hours, being pulled from burning rubble.

The proposal of the senior complex in Princeton is for elderly residents who may be spending the last years and months of their lives at this location. They may be disabled or less mobile and therefore should be living in an environment which is completely safe for them. Community residents, who may have family members or friends living at this facility and ultimately may be living there as well, will want to know that their complex is built to the best fire-safety standards. These measures for the new senior complex should be viewed as a worthwhile investment in protecting our senior citizens for many years to come.

Eric and Minnie Craig

Witherspoon Street

Paul and Yoshie Driscoll

Harris Road

Stephen Griffies

Maple Street

Dosier Hammond

Leigh Avenue

Wendy and David Ludlum

South Harrison Street

James and Audrey Mack

Carnahan Place 

Sue Tillett

Moore Street