West Windsor residents to get a seat at design table

Three shots at development input offered by Hillier Architecture

By: Nick Norlen
   WEST WINDSOR — To determine the direction of the development planned for the 350-acre area surrounding Princeton Junction train station, the township and Hillier Architecture, the firm hired to plan the project, will hold three community workshops over the next three months.
   The first of the workshops — also called "charrettes" — is scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Hyatt Regency Princeton hotel.
   Subsequent workshops will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 17 at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South and from 7 to 10 p.m. April 19 at Grover Middle School.
   After an introduction by West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and presentations by Mr. Hillier and other organizations, the Feb. 22 workshop will feature "small group visioning sessions" followed by presentations from each of the groups.
   According to Hillier Urban Design and Planning Director Anish Kumar, the majority of the time will be dedicated to receiving ideas in order to answer one essential question: "What do people really want?"
   "We don’t have a napkin sketch," he said, referring to the fact that project planners aren’t already set on a plan. Hillier Architecture founder and chairman Robert Hillier said his firm truly wants to start with public input.
   "I think what’s important is that we go in there with no preconceived ideas and the town realizes they’re the client," he said. "We don’t know what this thing is going to end up being."
   However, both Mr. Hillier and Mr. Kumar said they envision the project as becoming West Windsor’s "town center."
   "So many people in West Windsor commute," Mr. Kumar said. "It seems to us like the logical place to build that center."
   But Mr. Hillier said he hopes workshop attendance isn’t limited to daily commuters.
   "It’s important to get as many as we can to the charrette," he said, noting that more input will result in better ideas. "Everybody comes in and tells us what they want it to be — woven through that is what they would like it not to be."
   According to Mr. Hillier and Mr. Kumar, the residential use of the site will be combined with commercial.
   And although the proposed project has been designated as a "transit village," among other labels, Mr. Kumar said "the naming is secondary."
   Bradley Walters, a senior designer for Hillier’s Special Projects Team, said the first workshop should be used to create a "common understanding of what different terms suggest and mean and what different people are looking for."
   Mr. Kumar later vouched for the effectiveness of the charrettes.
   "Almost all our planning projects have planning involved at this level," he said. "There will always be some people who don’t like what the majority likes. We have to find a way to work through these issues."
   Mr. Hillier said there is an advantage for those involved this time around.
   "What’s wonderful about this one is we’re here (in West Windsor)," he said, referring to the firm and noting that it will provide interested parties with necessary resources. "We intend to make our office their workshop."
   Mr. Walters said working to produce viable ideas is more productive than later reacting to unwanted development.
   "This is the time and opportunity for the town to really get in the plan that everybody wants," he said.
   Mr. Kumar agreed.
   "It is time to be proactive," he said.
   Additional information is available at www.WWAllAboard.org.