Township introduces its measure to guide development after medical center’s planned departure for Plainsboro
By: Courtney Gross
The future development of the University Medical Center at Princeton’s main campus will most likely leave residential uses within Princeton Borough, while keeping office or retail space in Princeton Township.
Bringing the approximately 11-acre area closer to redevelopment, the Princeton Borough Council approved its thoroughly debated hospital zoning ordinances Tuesday evening, designating most of the area as residential. In a similar move, the Princeton Township Committee introduced an ordinance Monday that would slate the 3.5 acres of hospital property outside the borough as office or retail space.
The border between Princeton Borough and Princeton Township runs through the hospital site.
Recognizing the medical center’s proposed move to Plainsboro in approximately 2010, the governing bodies are attempting to give future developers direction through the revised zoning ordinances.
Despite debates that spanned several months, the Borough Council unanimously and almost silently approved its ordinances Tuesday evening following an absence of public comment. Council members thanked officials and residents for their input.
"It’s hard to come up with some new words to say," Councilwoman Wendy Benchley said Tuesday. "We’ve been looking at these for many, many months."
Discussed and endorsed previously by the Regional Planning Board of Princeton, the first of three ordinances approved by the council allows up to 280 residential units on the medical center’s 5.6-acre main campus lining Franklin Avenue, Harris Road, Henry Avenue and Witherspoon Street. The ordinance encourages the integration of age-restricted housing as well.
Retail or office space capped at 6 percent of the total development, excluding the parking garage may front on Witherspoon Street only for 180 feet, according to the ordinance, and the entire area must be developed as one entity.
Another ordinance approved Tuesday sets design standards for the mixed-use area that will guide the distribution of open space throughout the site and integrate the aesthetics of future development with the existing neighborhood. Within the ordinance a new street is also "envisioned."
The final borough ordinance creates a new residential zone that includes the Franklin Avenue surface parking lot with an adjacent affordable-housing development Franklin and Maple Terrace on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Witherspoon Street. The sites were grouped together because they could be considered comprehensively for future development, according to the ordinance.
To culminate the ordinances’ adoption in the borough, Princeton Director of Planning Lee Solow said Tuesday the Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance has recognized the process.
Although the majority of the hospital’s main campus lies within the borough, the parking garage on Henry Avenue and the Surgical Center at the corner of Witherspoon Street and Henry Avenue fall within the township’s borders.
Like the borough, the township’s ordinance was also discussed over several months. Having initially planned to introduce the ordinance earlier this month, the Township Committee delayed its official release to give hospital representatives ample time to review its criteria.
Unlike the borough’s proposed hospital-zoning ordinances which designate the majority of the site as residential the township has geared development toward retail, office or medical uses. Uses could include stores, restaurants, banks or doctors’ offices.
"There is not a need for additional housing in this portion of Princeton Township and … the existing structures can be readily adaptable to general office and retail uses," the ordinance states.
At Monday’s Township Committee meeting, Committeewoman Vicky Bergman questioned the committee’s decision to omit a residential component within the ordinance. Mr. Solow replied that the existing building within the township lent itself more to office space than to residential.
"We’re really planning for the future of the community there," Mr. Solow said.
Because the hospital’s property spans two municipalities, both governing bodies must ensure their individual plans are cohesive especially for the use of the parking garage.
Although the garage is located in the township, the borough’s zoning anticipates utilizing it for parking in the possible mixed-use development,.
By creating an overlay zone for the garage a key component of the township’s proposed ordinance township officials said the medical center could restripe the garage to create a total of 780 spaces and it also ensures a future developer could not expand it. There are approximately 743 spaces currently in the garage.
The proposed zoning ordinance also requires that retail establishments, banks or restaurants must be on the first floor and cannot front on Henry Avenue. Also, it states, 20 percent of the site should be slated for open space that could include landscaping, patios or a combination of those.
Part of the ordinance incorporates design standards similar to those adopted by the Borough Council to ensure that new structures are harmonious with the surrounding neighborhood. Street furniture, pathway systems and varying facades are encouraged throughout the area, according to the proposed ordinance.
The township ordinance is scheduled for a Dec. 4 public hearing.

