PACKET EDITORIAL, July 17
It’s hard to blame the folks who live in Kingston for worrying about the kind of impact the proposed Villas at Tuscany, the development slated for the old Princeton Nurseries property, could have on their little village.
It’s hard to blame the folks who live on Mercer Street in Princeton for being concerned that proposed changes to University Place, down by its intersection with Alexander Street, could have an effect on the amount of traffic that passes by their homes.
It’s hard to blame the folks who live in the Berrien City and Benford Estates sections of West Windsor for fretting about how their lives would change if traffic from the Alexander Road bridge is routed through their residential neighborhood.
We understand the uneasiness, the angst, the fear associated with change. And we encourage people whose homes, neighborhoods and lives are bound to be affected by change to take an active role in the decision-making process, to make sure their voices are heard and to help shape policy in a way that respects and responds to their legitimate concerns.
What we find most irritating, however, is an unfortunate tendency on the part of some otherwise reasonable folks confronted by the prospect of change to retreat into transparent, unabashed NIMBYism. Instead of looking for ways to balance their own interests with the greater public good, too many citizens allow themselves to be swept away by emotional, mean-spirited arguments that demonize the agents and advocates of change and denigrate the governmental bodies that must pass judgment on their proposals.
Princeton University, for example, has been vilified for its role in developing the Princeton Nurseries property, as well as its proposal to realign University Place. Accused of being greedy and uncaring, the university is cast as a villainous despoiler of the land (not to mention the Delaware & Raritan Canal), concerned only with advancing its own, institutional growth and enrichment at the expense of everyone else’s quality of life.
Meanwhile, the Plainsboro Township Planning Board and the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission, both of which have supported the Villas at Tuscany project, are labeled as co-conspirators in the plot to systematically destroy the quiet ambiance of central New Jersey.
The state Department of Transportation is another favorite target, along with the West Windsor Planning Board. Their mere consideration of plans to improve the Alexander Road bridge is enough to provoke charges that they’re out to pave over an idyllic section of the township, obliterate neighborhoods and accommodate New York commuters at the expense of West Windsor residents.
But what, exactly, are these institutions and regulatory bodies doing that is so wrong? On the Princeton Nurseries land, the university’s site plan is in complete conformance with local zoning. Ancillary development, including improvements to Mapleton Road and preservation of 30 acres of open space between the road and the D&R Canal, is in full accord with the rules and regulations of the D&R Canal Commission.
The realignment of University Place would remove a dangerous bottleneck and improve traffic flow between Nassau Street and Route 1. The need to improve traffic at the Alexander Road bridge should be obvious to anyone who has ever been caught in one of the worst daily rush-hour backups anywhere in the region. It would be a dereliction of responsibility for anyone involved in planning whether it’s for an institution like Princeton University, a municipality like West Windsor or a state agency like the DOT not to consider taking action to resolve these chronic problems.
The vast majority of people affected by changes such as these behave decently and honorably, expressing their legitimate concerns without showing rancor or disrespect. It is a relatively small but vocal minority that stoops to incivility and poisons the public discourse. And, in the end, it is this group that invariably does its own cause a great deal more harm than good.