Home to a prestigious university and a growing, diverse population, Charlottesville VA (population: 46,553) has many things in common with Princeton. But although there is much to appreciate in its walkable downtown, Charlottesville has also struggled in recent years with a growing crisis of housing affordability. Increasing prices threaten long-standing communities who are at risk of displacement, and young people find it hard to find places to live. In response, the city is enacting far-reaching changes to land use, with a specific focus on racial equity and affordability. As Princeton works to rewrite its community master plan for the first time since the 1990s, could lessons be learned from a similar college town?
The Suzanne Patterson Building at 1 Monument Drive, one of the locations of the Princeton Senior Resource Center, which provides services to the town’s aging population.
A couple of years ago, we got the first results from the 2020 US Census, which showed that the population of Princeton, NJ had grown to 30,681 (Report: “Princeton NJ population reaches 30,681 in 2020 Census“). That figure reflected a +7.4% increase on the 28,572 people who were counted in the old Borough and Township in the Census of 2010. In May of this year, a major new dataset released by the US Census Bureau, based on findings from the 2020 Census, gave us the chance to find out more about who these new Princeton residents are. How has the makeup of the town changed?
The vacant Tennents-Roberts campus of Princeton Theological Seminary awaits potential redevelopment in June 2023.
In a classic example of “speak softly, but carry a big stick”, the would-be developer of the former Princeton Seminary Tennent-Roberts site off Route 206 has laid down a threat to neighbors who have blocked previous efforts for redevelopment: if they can’t cut a deal about what to build, they may sue the town. And they think they will win. The case involves 10 acres of land that was designated as a redevelopment area by Princeton Council in 2018. These acres are off of Stockton Street (aka State Road 206) around Library Place, Edgehill Street, and Hibben Road (map). The land is about 10 minutes walk from downtown Princeton, making it an extremely attractive area for “Smart Growth” redevelopment.
A previous plan by the Princeton Theological Seminary to redevelop these acres ended in acrimony in 2019. The Seminary had hoped to build housing for their students on the site, so that those students could live within walking distance of campus, instead of in various townships outside of Princeton. Despite a large number of meetings with neighbors, it was impossible to strike a compromise for redevelopment that was acceptable to all parties. Councilman David Cohen, who was deeply involved in the negotiations, told the “Town Topics” newspaper that “nothing could be further from the truth” than the way that certain neighboring residents characterized the process.
The Princeton Theological Seminary subsequently entered into a contract to sell the land to a developer, widely understood to be Herring Properties. In a community meeting last month (view video here), representatives of the developer described how they hoped to meet the desires of neighbors. Redevelopment would involve good design, enhanced stormwater mitigations, and tree protection.
However, they also cited a recent case in Madison NJ, where a judge ruled that the availability of additional land could be used to meet a town’s “unmet need” for state-required affordable housing. The former Princeton Borough had a historic ‘unmet need’ for affordable housing, because the former Borough claimed that there was not enough available land to build housing to meet state requirements for low-income housing. The Seminary lands are now available for redevelopment, and could be used to help resolve that unmet need, which means that a developer could apply to the courts to get permission to build, regardless of local land use rules or the concerns of neighbors.
The developer’s position is important, because neighbors are continuing to urge the town to play hardball in negotiations over redevelopment of the Seminary lands. The reality is that if the developer proposes any kind of inclusionary affordable development, the town would be taking a big risk by saying “no”. No specific plan for redevelopment of the Seminary lands has been revealed at this time, but the town will have to decide if it’s worthwhile to take on a potential legal battle if neighbors don’t like what is proposed.
Related materials:
Video of May 6 Public Meeting Concerning Redevelopment of the Seminary Site:
A rare house for sale in Princeton, and NJ Assembly Speaker, Craig Coughlin
A battle has broken about among New Jersey’s governing Democrats about how to set the state budget. On one side, the NJ Assembly speaker, Craig Coughlin, has proposed a new plan called “Stay NJ”, which would have the state pay half of the property taxes of all homeowners over age 65. On the other side, Governor Phil Murphy has said that he will veto any such program.
Riverside Elementary School, one of the four neighborhood elementary schools in Princeton
Princeton Public School District is considering a major restructuring of elementary school education. At a meeting of elementary school parents on April 27, district official presented a number of options to address growing student enrollment. One of these options would be to move to a ‘Sister Schools’ model, where students would attend one elementary school for kindergarten through Grade 2, and then switch to a different school for grades 3-5.
The Spring Street Parking Deck, seen from Sylvia Beach Way
Princeton Council has approved $1.1 million in spending on repairs to the Spring Street parking deck. The contract for the work, which will be done by Maarv Waterproofing Inc, was approved through Resolution 23-174 at the Council meeting of May 8.
Witherspoon Street in Princeton, adjacent to Community Park Elementary School
Princeton Council has approved a plan from the Engineering Department for the next part of the multi-year effort to redesign Witherspoon Street. The so-called ‘Witherspoon St Phase 3’ project will be between Leigh Avenue and Valley Road, which includes the part of the road that runs past Community Park Elementary School. Once again, the new street design will contain no specific facilities for cyclists. Instead, cyclists will have the option to share the road with bus and truck traffic, or to use sidewalks, despite the sidewalks being too narrow to safely accommodate both bikes and people walking.
Existing Sakrid Coffee Shop at Nassau St and Chambers St, in downtown Princeton (via sakridcoffee.com)
Earlier this year, a report from the Princeton Zoning Officer noted that Sakrid Coffee was operating a coffee shop at 300 Witherspoon St, the old ‘Princeton Packet’ building (Report: “‘TigerLabs’ Relocating To Witherspoon Street“). At the time, it was not obvious that this was true, but a planning proposal that will be heard by the Princeton Zoning Board indicates that Sakrid Coffee are very serious about opening a new outlet at the Witherspoon Street site! The town is currently considering an application to make it happen.
The Princeton Municipal Complex at 400 Witherspoon St, Princeton
Princeton is well known as a town that appreciates open space, to the extent that 27% of the town is made up of preserved land. Extraordinarily, however, it seems that the town hall for the old Princeton Township was constructed on preserved open space. The old Princeton Township town hall lives on as the “Princeton Municipal Complex” at 400 Witherspoon St. Also known as “Witherspoon Hall”, the building has been the site for all Council meetings since consolidation of the old Princeton Borough and Princeton Township in 2013. The building opened in 2002, and it seems that nobody noticed that it had been built on preserved land.
Newly-released map of protected lands in Princeton. (via princetonnj.gov, click for higher resolution.)
The town of Princeton has acquired large amounts of open space in recent years, but until very recently, there was no publicly-accessible map of protected lands. Speaking to the Princeton Environmental Commission on Feb 22, municipal open space manager Cindy Taylor unveiled a new map, showing the locations of every tract in the town that is subject to conservation orders.
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