A mixed-use “gateway” along Alexander Road in Princeton Township sounds like a good project for a lot of people.
One, it would take a fairly unattractive area and turn it into an attractive mix of housing, restaurants and office space, all of which would be professionally landscaped.
Two, it would provide one-family, two-family, attached and multiple dwellings. During a discussion of the proposal at a Township Committee meeting last week, Mayor Chad Goerner said, “We wanted to have a larger stock of housing so that people at varying levels of income can come into the community.”
The idea is that the housing elements would not be competing with Palmer Square and the higher-end neighborhoods and there is certainly a need for low- and moderate-income housing in the area.
Bob Durkee, vice president and secretary of Princeton University, who presented the proposal to change the zoning from service to a residential mixed-use at the meeting, said the new neighborhood would be governed by a comprehensive set of guidelines.
Some of the current uses would be carried over to the residential mixed-use zone, and others would be added.
”It seems to be time to recognize that (the stretch of roadway) really isn’t a service corridor anymore,” he said.
The idea is to combine components that are complementary to the adjacent university campus and transit hub.
The proposals came in part from talks going back to 2009.
This is an exciting and well thought-out project. We look forward to its progress.
