A new library and school projects lead the list.
By: Jeff Milgram
In Princeton, 2002 will be the year of the bulldozer the beginning of construction on the library, renovation and expansion to all six schools and the end of construction of the often-delayed Princeton Township municipal building.
In Princeton Township, it also may be the year of the lawyer, as decisions on deer management and senior housing are likely to face continuing legal challenges.
Construction of the Toll Brothers housing project in West Windsor will be the subject of what could be a landmark ruling by the state Supreme Court on affordable housing.
And in neighboring Plainsboro the finishing touches will be put on a new environmental center this spring.
In Montgomery, the big news this year will be a changing of the guard, as Democrats take over control of the Township Committee for the first time in a decade.
For the Princeton Regional Board of Education, the big news for 2001 was the approval of an $81 million referendum to pay for a massive school renovation and expansion project.
In June, asbestos will be removed from Princeton High School. The actual construction will begin in September and will take about two years.
Construction will dominate the news in Princeton Borough.
Resolving the future use of the Park & Shop and Tulane Street parking lots building a garage and other structures or keeping the surface lots leads the list of priorities.
The Princeton Public Library, adjacent to the Park & Shop lot, will be demolished in January with construction of the new $18 million facility beginning in the spring.
Mayor Marvin Reed has said he would like the borough’s garage project to proceed in tandem with the library so parking issues will be resolved when the library moves into its new building by late 2003.
The borough approved a development plan in August calling for a 483-space parking garage, retail and residential space and a public plaza.
Princeton Township’s municipal departments are expected to move into the new $11.8 million municipal building across Witherspoon Street from their present home in the Valley Road Building this spring, 15 months behind schedule.
The township’s deer-management program suffered a setback Monday when lawyers for opponents succeeded in winning a preliminary injunction.
Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson ordered the township to cease and desist all preparations for the deer hunt, and prohibited the use of silenced rifles and captive-bolt guns in the township, and the enforcement of a recently modified ordinance banning deer feeding.
A hearing is planned in about two weeks to determine whether Hamden, Conn.-based wildlife management firm White Buffalo may proceed with township plans to cull the deer herd by 500.
Committee members will wait and see whether two recently approved senior-housing overlay ordinances will bring much-needed retirement housing to the township.
The new ordinances allow housing for seniors 62-years or older on a 30-acre site off Mount Lucas Road and Route 206; a roughly 20-acre site off Mount Lucas Road near Herrontown Road; and a 20-acre site off Bunn Drive near McComb Road.
A developer, Intell New Jersey, has expressed interest in building age-restricted housing on one of the Mount Lucas sites, but opposition by neighbors and the Central New Jersey Sierra Club could stall construction.
Some Mount Lucas Road residents are considering legal action against the township on grounds of spot zoning and violations of Princeton’s Master Plan and the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
The Sierra Club, meanwhile, has asked the State Planning Commission to review whether the ordinances are in compliance with the State Plan.
In West Windsor, the major news for 2002 will be hearing what the state Supreme Court has to say in the matter of Toll Brothers v. West Windsor Township.
The state Supreme Court’s ruling will not only end eight years of lengthy and highly contentious court battles between the two parties but it will likely also change the landscape of affordable housing regulations for municipalities statewide.
The township and developer Toll Brothers have been embroiled in litigation since 1993 over affordable housing regulations related to the 1,165-unit Estates at Princeton Junction housing development off Bear Brook Road.
If the justices’ line of questioning at the presentation of oral arguments in late November 2001 was any indication of what’s to come, the court is looking to take a broader look at the landmark Mount Laurel rulings, which offer a collection of policies and procedures to make sure municipalities provide opportunities for low-and-moderate income housing.
In Plainsboro, residents can look forward to the opening of the Environmental Education Center of the Plainsboro Preserve in the spring.
The 6,500-square-foot education facility will be located near the shore of McCormack Lake in the 750-acre Plainsboro Preserve, off Scotts Corner Road, and serve as the preserve’s administrative and educational headquarters.
The $1.3 million project was funded through private donations and state and federal grants. The New Jersey Audubon Society will finance the facility’s operational costs and educational programs and provide maintenance and management for the entire preserve property.
Political power will shift to the Democrats for the first time in a decade when the Montgomery Township Committee reorganizes at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Democrats Louise Wilson, Karen Wintress and Jennifer Walls will hold a 3-2 majority on the committee. Ms. Wilson, as the Democrat with the most seniority on the committee, is likely to be elected mayor.
Staff writers Jennifer Potash, David Campbell, Gwen Runkle and Steve Rauscher contributed to this story.