Proposed sites for senior housing attacked on density

Neighbors mobilized to oppose three Princeton Township sites, dealing the plans a setback.

By: David Campbell
   A draft ordinance earmarking three township sites for senior housing suffered a setback Thursday night when mobilized neighbors charged it was in direct conflict with local and state planning, and possibly represented illegal spot zoning.
   The Zoning Amendment Review Committee of the Regional Planning Board of Princeton delayed making its recommendation on the proposed ordinance, called a senior-housing overlay, which the Princeton Township Committee requested be reviewed by fall.
   And most committee members seemed to agree that the overlay’s maximum density of 200 units per 20 acres may be too high, and that environmental constraints on at least two of the sites could be prohibitive to development.
   "It’s a difficult issue and it’s something this community has been struggling with for six years," said committee Chairwoman Victoria Bergman. "The people who have been leading the charge are getting tired."
   The draft ordinance would create overlays for a 30-acre site off Mount Lucas Road and Route 206, a roughly 20-acre site off Mount Lucas near Herrontown Road and a 20-acre site off Bunn Drive near McComb Road.
   The overlay would impose an age restriction of 62 or older for occupants of senior housing on those sites, and would permit single- or two-family houses to be built, as well as townhouses, quadraplexes or multifamily structures of up to 60 units.
   In order to attract developers to build there, the ordinance would allow for an increased density if a developer agreed to build age-restricted housing and provide for lower township fees for site and off-site improvements.
   "There are environmental constraints that we should be aware of," said Princeton Planning Director Lee Solow.
   About 23 percent of the Mount Lucas Road-Route 206 site and 35 percent of the Mount Lucas Road-Herrontown Road site are environmentally sensitive, Mr. Solow said. The Transco gas line bisects the Bunn Drive site, he said.
   In an extensive PowerPoint presentation, four spokesmen for a Mount Lucas Road neighborhood group outlined their claim that the proposed overlay would be in direct conflict with the Princeton Community Master Plan and with the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
   "The proposed ordinance would permit the development of structures whose size and scale are completely incompatible with the character of the neighborhood," said spokesman Frank Castellana.
   The group said the proposed sites are environmentally constrained.
   It also charged that the overlay appears to have been drafted to accommodate developer Intell New Jersey’s plans to build about 200 market-rate senior housing units on the Mount Lucas Road-Route 206 site, and would therefore be spot zoning, which is illegal.
   Mr. Castellana recommended a senior-housing conference be held where residents and officials could meet with developers to develop "innovative solutions and better understand the economics and incentives that will be required for success."
   Princeton Borough Councilwoman and committee member Wendy Benchley, who voiced concern about the proposed density in the overlay and environmental constraints on the sites, supported that idea.
   "I think we ought to have a conference, bring the developers in here, educate ourselves," Ms. Benchley said.
   But Ms. Bergman, citing delays in the past to develop housing for moderate-income seniors, said, "I don’t want to be sitting here six years from now saying we still need more information. By that time, I’ll be eligible for senior housing."