Elm Court II takes another step toward construction.
By: David Campbell
The Princeton Township Committee on Monday night unanimously approved introduction of a zoning change that protects the Elm Court II affordable senior-housing development on Elm Road from further legal challenges and nearby homeowners from future encroachment.
If approved, the zoning ordinance would make the existing 88-unit Elm Court development as well as a proposed 68-unit expansion a permitted use. The site is located within both Princeton Township and Princeton Borough and the borough introduced a similar companion ordinance last week.
A public hearing is set Feb. 10.
With litigation against the project by neighbors settled, Princeton Community Housing, the nonprofit landlord for Elm Court, anticipates filing an application with the Princeton Regional Planning Board in March, PCH Trustee David Kinsey told the Borough Council last week.
Construction could begin in early 2005 with the units available by the end of that year, Mr. Kinsey said.
The two companion ordinances derive from the court-mediated settlement in late 2001 among the Mountain Brook Homeowners Association and PCH, the borough and township, and the Planning Board, said Princeton Township Attorney Edwin Schmierer.
PCH is expected to design its site plan for the expansion within the zoning restrictions set forth in the ordinances, Mr. Schmierer said.
A debate between the township and the borough may arise over which municipality can claim the new units toward its state-mandated affordable-housing requirements.
Also, the state Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing the borough’s request to remove a 3.2-acre parcel bought with state Green Acres money from its Recreation and Open Space Inventory.
The Sierra Club of New Jersey and others have argued the borough and township illegally used public open space as an easement for the expansion. The borough claims the parcel was incorrectly registered as Green Acres land on its inventory.
In other business, the Township Committee on Monday night unanimously introduced an ordinance prohibiting left turns from Valley Road onto Route 206. The intersection was recently reopened following the completion of the new Township Hall. A public hearing is set for Jan. 27.
The committee recently approved a resolution requesting that the state Department of Transportation restrict left turns from Route 206 south onto Valley Road for a test period of three months.

