PRINCETON: Report expected on university arts, transit talks

   A report regarding transit issues and detailing a subcommittee’s work on negotiations with Princeton University’s proposed arts and transit neighborhood is expected to be made public in the coming weeks. The information was revealed at a special session of Princeton Borough Council and the Township Committee held Wednesday night.
   Subcommittee members and university officials have been meeting weekly to discuss the differences in opinion regarding the transit issues with the proposed plan, which includes moving the Dinky 460 feet to the south and away from the downtown. The group’s last meeting is next week. A document detailing the group’s conclusions should be made public sometime after that.
   ”The stated charge of this is not to include zoning or the university’s PILOT, which have both been topics of editorials and letters to the editor in the paper,” said Robert Bruschi, borough administrator. “They have been concentrating solely on the transit aspect of the plan.”
   The subcommittee was formed after a January meeting where the university said it would cancel the project if it could not get an indication on zoning for the project. Current zoning supports all the proposed changes to the Dinky area except the construction on the Lewis Center for the Arts, the centerpiece of the arts neighborhood. The university needs a zoning change for the arts portion and is proposing a totally new zone, called arts, education and transit for the area.
   ”Ultimately there is going to be a document publicly presented to the governing bodies,” he said. “Knowing Princeton the way I do, there will be a significant amount of time to vet this document.”Mr. Bruschi gave an overview of the negotiation process, which began with identifying common goals related to transit and transportation.
   ”Ultimately driving this whole discussion is the overall common goal of providing for the long-term viability of the current train service and it’s equally, or may be even more important goal of enhancing the service to continued sustainability in the future.”
   The zoning is being discussed separately from the transit discussions.
   ”The borough staff has met independently several times, and we have met with the university professional staff,” he said. “We believe we have been meeting many of the concerns expressed at the only public meeting we had in the borough in regards to the zoning. The Borough Council was able to articulate to us some of the concerns they had with the proposed zoning. I’m confident with the way the schedule is shaking out, that we will have the zoning ordinance come back before the governing body around May 3.”
   Any zoning approved by the council would then be sent to the Planning Board. The board would then have 35 days to approve or send back changes to municipal officials.
   David Cohen, a township resident, questioned the benefits of to the community with the rezoning.
   ”It’s important to get a clearer picture,” he said. “Everyone knows about the ad placed in the Town Topics and The Packet over the last week of people in the community supporting this change and there’s a lot of misunderstanding about exactly what the change is … What is the use of the arts campus really going to be?”
   ”As it develops over time, there will be buildings that will have performances that are open to the public; not just to attend those performances, but when we’re not using (the buildings) to actually use them for their own performances and they open up other places on campus for the public. This is designed to be a public space,” said Robert Durkee, university vice president and secretary, who didn’t want to comment on negotiations. “The question is does the community want too see this part of the community developed for the arts?” he said, assuring public access to the facilities.
   Princeton University will expand for the arts, whether in this location or in another, he said. The Dinky area will be redeveloped no matter what and within existing zoning.
   ”We think it is the best place for our expansion of the arts,” and the arts expansion will go elsewhere if the community cannot come to consensus and zoning is not granted.
   Traffic studies and a traffic consultant were also brought up. Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller asked about independent traffic studies of the area and borough resident Kip Cherry talked about the larger picture of redevelopment going on in the larger area.
   She talked about the Hibben-Magie graduate student housing expansion and there was no transportation consultant to decipher how it would all work together.
   ”We need a bigger picture on this and I hope we could spend a few dollars on a transportation consultant to help us make the right decisions,” she said.
   Traffic studies were done by an independent consultant engaged by the planning board, said Mr. Durkee.
   Borough resident Alan Kornhauser made comments on the negotiations between public officials and the university.
   ”I think the whole arts center complex would have been built by now if the university hadn’t insisted moving the terminus of the Dinky,” he said. “I think it’s really bad public policy to move the terminus of a transportation system farther away from the center of the demand and I’m not sure what’s being negotiated behind those closed doors.”
   Full page ads with a petition of support with more than 350 names of borough and township residents who support the project have appeared in the papers over the past week.
   Mr. Durkee also wanted to correct some misinformation. The university has not moved the Dinky since it bought the property in 1984; NJ Transit moved the Dinky after the sale of the property in the mid 1980s. The letter confirming the sale was given to public officials and the Packet at their request a couple of weeks ago.