Parking still stymies Hulfish North condo development

Planning Board subcommittee to begin review of latest version today

By: Courtney Gross
   A revised parking plan for the proposed luxury condominium development Hulfish North in Palmer Square has been submitted to the Regional Planning Board of Princeton and will be reviewed by a subcommittee today.
   A detailed parking plan for the residential development proposed for Paul Robeson Place — a condition of the development’s June approval — must be reviewed and approved by a three-member ad hoc subcommittee of the Planning Board before the board’s go-ahead is complete.
   The project plan dates back to the 1990s and comprises 100 units, including townhouses, a flat and single-family dwellings.
   The parking plan is the final barrier for the project, but little progress was made when the subcommittee met for the first time in early October.
   Now, as the group prepares to meet again, a compromise could still be distant.
   David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square Management, said the revised plan covers "pretty much everything" the subcommittee suggested in early October. Although borough professionals are concerned with some aspects of the development’s parking scheme, Mr. Newton said, Palmer Square hopes the barrier can be lifted and differences can be narrowed.
   "After 14 years, optimism is not an emotion we experience," Mr. Newton said. But, "I am always quietly optimistic," he added.
   If the board and Palmer Square Management cannot compromise on the proposed parking plan, which details the uses of the Upper Hulfish Garage, the Lower Hulfish Garage and the Chambers Street Garage, Palmer Square representatives would again have to appear before the Planning Board.
   A total of 994 parking spaces serve Palmer Square.
   In October, members of the subcommittee and Princeton Borough Engineer Carl Peters were concerned residents would not have appropriate access to the garages, and daily garage users could possibly burden other parking facilities in Princeton if shoved out by new residents.
   Concerned there was a lack of oversight, borough officials also suggested to Palmer Square representatives that a parking report be submitted twice annually.
   Other concerns were raised on shared parking among residents and employees of Palmer Square’s commercial district.
   Since then, representatives of Palmer Square and the professional staff have discussed the draft agreement, said Mr. Newton, and a revised plan that incorporates some of the subcommittee’s suggestions has been submitted.
   The subcommittee and its professionals had requested previously that Palmer Square representatives address subcompact car parking spaces and their underutilization, which is not addressed in the proposed management plan.
   In a memo from Mr. Peters, dated Tuesday, that rebuts the revised plan, the borough engineer suggests increasing the number of future resident vehicles slated to park in the Upper Hulfish Garage — currently set at 57 in the revised parking plan. Mr. Peters also referred to a suggestion by a previous parking consultant to lower fees for compact-car spaces in hopes of encouraging monthly users not associated with the residential development to park there.
   But overall, Mr. Peters’ memo states, "I do not believe that the plan submitted is adequate to manage the parking demand generated by this development. In fact, this proposal provides fewer controls than were presented by the applicant’s parking consultant, Tim Haahs, at the Planning Board hearing in June."
   The revised parking plan states the future management practice will rely on the expertise of the garage’s parking manager, and it would also guarantee a resident’s right to purchase one monthly parking pass. Almost half of the residential parking spaces’ location will be determined by the parking manager based on his expertise, the plan states.
   The revised plan allocates spaces for residences that open privately to the garage and proposes restriping to create additional spaces, as well.