Palmer Square, borough at impasse.
By: Jennifer Potash
Palmer Square Management LLC’s plans to build 97 luxury townhouses at Hulfish North may have hit an impasse.
Borough Mayor Marvin Reed said he is "very pessimistic" about the borough and developer reaching a deal on the development.
"It is not going anywhere unless (Palmer Square) agrees to provide its full obligation to affordable housing," Mayor Reed said Thursday at a Princeton Regional Planning Board meeting.
Palmer Square and Princeton Borough are deadlocked over the developer’s contribution to the borough’s affordable-housing programs. The municipality denied the developer a foundation permit in May, due in part to the conflict.
The borough contends Palmer Square must make an affordable-housing contribution based on a 1986 zoning ordinance. Palmer Square counters that the Hulfish North Project is exempt from the affordable-housing obligation because the development originally was approved in 1983, three years prior to adoption of the zoning ordinance. A revised Hulfish North plan was granted approval in 1990.
The developer spent the better part of 2002 meeting with the Landscape Review Subcommittee of the Princeton Regional Planning Board to bring the plans into compliance with the conditions the Planning Board set in 1990 when it approved the plans.
The subcommittee concluded its work in late December and sent the plans back to the full board for a final review.
Mayor Reed said the borough, in an effort to move the Hulfish North project along, agreed to accept less than the 20-percent affordable-housing units on site that are required under the borough ordinance.
Those low- and moderate-income units, as defined by Council on Affordable Housing standards, would not necessarily have to be located in the Hulfish North development, Mayor Reed said. Palmer Square could designate existing units among its properties for the affordable housing, he said.
The borough does not want a cash payment in lieu of Palmer Square’s construction of affordable-housing units. Because of high land and construction costs, the municipality would not gain many units from a cash grant, Mayor Reed said.
David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square Management, said the borough is applying a double standard to his development.
The borough’s partnership with Nassau HKT Associates, while providing 12 affordable and moderate-income level units, represents an "insider deal" for the developer which got permission to make a payment in lieu of taxes and does not have to deal with land acquisition costs, Mr. Newton said.
"It seems a bit of an insider deal to apply one standard to what’s happening on one side of the street and another standard on our side of the street," Mr. Newton said.
Mayor Reed said at meetings late last year with Henry Hill, Palmer Square’s attorney, the two sides discussed numbers and exact locations for the units. But at a follow-up meeting in early 2003, Mayor Reed said borough officials expected to receive more details but instead were told locating the affordable housing on Palmer Square properties was not feasible. Mr. Hill is a partner in the law firm Hill Wallack and successfully represented Toll Brothers in a bitter dispute over development with the West Windsor Township Council.
Mayor Reed said part of the problem is whether Palmer Square’s owners are really allowing their representatives to negotiate an agreement.
"Henry Hill is a very experienced attorney in dealing with developer and affordable-housing issues but it’s not clear if he has the flexibility to represent their interests," the mayor said.
Mr. Newton called Mayor Reed’s observation "total nonsense" and said Mr. Hill is fully authorized to negotiate on Palmer Square’s behalf.
Mr. Hill did not return a call seeking comment Monday.
Mayor Reed said the borough would like to reach a settlement to resolve the issue. But the borough will not grant the requisite building permits until Palmer Square meets the affordable-housing obligation, he said.
Ultimately, the matter may wind up in court. Representatives of Palmer Square have said if the borough does not grant the permits, the developer will file a lawsuit.
The Hulfish North parcel, located off Paul Robeson Place, has remained uncompleted for more than a decade.

