220-unit complex opposed by residents; South Brunswick council has concerns
By: David M. Campbell
PLAINSBORO Princeton University’s plan to develop former Princeton Nursery lands is scheduled for township review next week, and opposition from two community groups is mounting.
Meanwhile, the Township Council of neighboring South Brunswick this week raised some concerns of its own about the plan.
Members of Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands, comprised of Kingston residents, plan to appear before the Township Planning Board on Monday night in an attempt to stop the university from building a 220-unit apartment complex on 56 acres off Mapleton and Seminary roads. The first phase of the university’s development plan is up for subdivision and site plan approval that night.
The development plan also allows for a 2 million-square-foot office and retail complex on the remaining 144 acres but, according to Michael La Place, township director of community development, the university has not yet submitted a proposal for the business complex.
The Friends group believes the proposed development will bring traffic and pollution that will have a negative impact on its community and the Delaware & Raritan Canal.
"Kingston residents are scratching their heads trying to understand how Princeton University could do this to them," said Karen Linder, a member of the citizens group.
The group claims that, according to a 1998 traffic study prepared by the university, the apartments and business complex would bring about 3,624 vehicles per hour at peak hours traffic equal to the current southbound volume on Route 1, the group says to Heathcote Brook Road and Academy Street, which run through Kingston’s historic district.
"The two Kingston roads … are colonial-era lanes, designed for the occasional horse and cart, not 3,000 cars per hour," Ms. Linder said.
The group also claims the university’s plan will adversely affect the Delaware & Raritan Canal.
"The impact on the D & R Canal, which forms the western border of the development zone, is obvious," Ms. Linder continued. "So is the automotive air pollution caused by the new traffic generated by the development plan."
The group appeared before the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission in October with a 600-name petition asking the commission to step up efforts to protect areas beyond its 1,000-foot review zone.
On Wednesday night, another citizens group opposing the university’s plan, called Friends of Sayre Drive, presented the Township Committee with a petition signed by more than 600 area residents asking the township to withhold any construction on the site until the possibility of acquiring the land for open space can be explored.
The group asked the committee to approve township funding for the purchase. In the event the land cannot be set aside as open space, the Friends of Sayre Drive asked the committee to conduct environmental and traffic impact studies to ensure the effects on the surrounding region are minimized.
According to group member Sara Roche, "Past studies have studied only the land itself, and not the surrounding roads and the open-space area adjacent to it that abuts the canal."
Friends of Sayre Drive spokeswoman Susan Smiley said the petitioners hope the nursery lands will be used in "a way that benefits all township residents while causing harm to none. The present plan may provide revenues to the township, but will do so at the expense of those living near the proposed developments."
She added: "We feel like the property deserves to be left open. Once that property is bulldozed, there’s no bringing it back."
On Tuesday night, the South Brunswick Township Council approved a resolution asking Plainsboro to consider reducing and altering the plan so that access is off Route 1 and not Mapleton Road.
"We are obviously asking Plainsboro to keep the traffic they create," said Mayor Debra Johnson.
Plainsboro Mayor Peter A. Cantu said Thursday that the plan coming before the Planning Board on Monday night cannot be delayed at this late stage, but said he intended to forward the petition to board members so the group’s concerns can be considered in the review process.
He said acquiring the remaining 144 acres as open space is not out of the question, but said the asking price may be too high.
"It’s a mountain to climb. I don’t want to dismiss anything. We’ll be examining it. There will be a full public process, but we must be realistic," the mayor said, adding that the land could cost as much as $500,000 an acre.
University spokeswoman Pam Hersh said the university has set aside about 30 acres of the 56-acre parcel slated for the apartment complex as open space land that adjoins the canal.
The plan to develop the land, she continued, has been a longstanding agreement between Plainsboro and the university going back to 1988.
"Princeton University truly felt it could develop this land in a manner that would be very responsible of the environment and the quality of life in the region," Ms. Hersh said. "We think preserving 30 acres as open space is accomplishing this goal. At the time this land came on the market, it was highly questionable whether any other developer would do that."
Packet Group reporter Matthew Armstrong contributed to this story.