Hearings begin Thursday on Master Plan amendments
By: David Campbell
The Regional Planning Board of Princeton will open a public hearing Thursday night on two Master Plan amendments that, if approved, would pave the way for rezoning and redevelopment of the University Medical Center at Princeton campus.
Last week, the trustees of the Princeton HealthCare System, UMCP’s corporate parent, voted to buy the 160-acre FMC Corp. property at Route 1 and Plainsboro Road in Plainsboro Township for its new state-of-the-art hospital campus to replace the one in Princeton.
The trustees also empowered the PHCS senior management to proceed with the sale of the roughly 12-acre UMCP campus to Philadelphia-based developer Lubert-Adler Management Inc.
The board also authorized PHCS senior management to proceed with the sale of the 9-acre Merwick Rehab Hospital & Nursing Care facility on Bayard Lane and the Franklin Avenue parking lot adjacent to UMCP to Princeton University.
The university said last week it views those two properties as potential locations for new housing for faculty, staff and graduate students, and possibly for affordable housing for the community.
The sale of the three PHCS properties will help fund the estimated $350 million cost of the new campus. PHCS plans to break ground in Plainsboro in 2007 and welcome its first patients to the new campus in 2010, PHCS said.
Gerald Ronon, principal of Lubert-Adler, said Monday that his company plans to redevelop the UMCP campus to conform with the Princeton Community Master Plan.
His firm plans to work with West Windsor-based Hillier Architecture, which worked with PHCS on conceptual redevelopment plans for the site.
Plans proposed by Hillier included reusing the main eight-story hospital complex on Witherspoon Street for a maximum of about 280 resident-owned units to be marketed to buyers 55 and older, with some office, limited neighborhood retail and other uses on the ground floor.
Mr. Ronon said Monday that he hopes to attend the public hearing Thursday, which is slated to be begin at 7:30 p.m. in the main meeting room of Princeton Township Hall.
Asked whether Lubert-Adler plans to adhere to design and marketing proposals put forward by Hillier, Mr. Ronon said it is too early in the process to say with certainty.
He said 280 residential units at the site are envisioned because it is the number specified in the proposed Master Plan amendments. He said it is too soon to say whether they would be owner or rental units.
The two proposed Master Plan amendments to be discussed Thursday night one for land use, the other for community facilities would permit the hospital land to be redeveloped for primarily residential uses with limited office and retail.
The amendments dealing with land use also stipulate that an affordable-housing component should be included; that the PHCS-owned houses on Harris Road should remain residential; and that the existing hospital zoning for the UMCP campus should remain in place until the hospital relocates.
Carnahan Place resident Heidi Fichtenbaum, who plans to attend the meeting Thursday, said she worries that PHCS and municipal officials are more interested in profit and property-tax ratables, respectively, from the sale and reuse of the hospital campus.
"So far, what I’ve seen is an unwillingness by the Planning Board to think ‘big picture’ about what their goal is for Princeton, like to have a vision," said Ms. Fichtenbaum, who has expressed concern about density at the site at past Planning Board meetings.
She said she hopes many residents will turn out Thursday to express their views, but expressed frustration as well.
"I’m very frustrated," Ms. Fichtenbaum said. "I won’t give up until it’s all built and there’s nothing left to say. Now is the moment when we have the opportunity to say something about what we want for Princeton as a town."
Planning Board member Marvin Reed, who chaired the board subcommittee that helped draft the proposed amendments, said Monday that a sizeable turnout by the public is expected on Thursday night. "I think we’ll have a good showing," he said.
Mr. Reed said that the naming of Lubert-Adler as the developer of the main hospital site will not alter the proceedings of the public hearing.
"We’ve been working on this right along, and everybody said they would abide by the Master Plan changes and zoning ordinances that are put in place," he said.
He said the Philadelphia company has a good reputation, which he said is encouraging.
"They are a very competent, well-financed company that specializes in the conversion of buildings to residential use," he said. "They’re not somebody that will just come along and make a big proposal and then not be able to follow through and let the project languish."

