By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Princeton University’s plan to build a $300 million arts complex and move the Dinky station will be back at the Historic Preservation Office of the Department of Environmental Protection later this month.
The Historic Sites Council only has a say over the early termination of the easement itself, which will automatically end five years after train service ends. A decision by the council cannot stop the project, it can only impact the timetable for plans for the existing station buildings, which are slated to be remodeled into a restaurant and cafe.
At the last hearing on Feb. 16, DEP officials requested more information on the project.
The Historic Sites Council, which is part of the Historic Preservation Office, is reviewing NJ Transit plans, not Princeton University’s. As a private entity, the university is not subject to review. Because it is a private project, the DEP only has a say on the easement, which is public.
If the Historic Sites Council approves the early termination, the abandonment of the easement could not take place until alternate transit service is in place, said Richard Goldman, a municipal land use lawyer with Drinker Biddle & Reath, Princeton University’s attorney. There could be a short period of time where bus service is offered as the new rail service is completed.
If the Historic Sites Council does not approve the early termination, the project will continue, except the old rails and station building will sit unused for five years as the university waits for the easement to expire as per the requirements contained in its original legal contract.
Two lawsuits against the project have been filed and served. One suit challenges the arts district zoning as illegal preferential zoning for a single landowner and the university’s right to move the train under the 1984 agreement the university has with NJ Transit.
Tom Clark of the NJ Transit office of government and community relations said the 1984 contract gives the university the right to move the station and there is agreement between NJ Transit and several legal opinions the station can move, despite disagreements on the local level. Those include both municipal attorneys, the university attorney and the deputy attorney general for NJ Transit.
The meeting will take place on April 19 in the public hearing room of the DEP building, located at 401 East State St. in Trenton beginning at 10 a.m.
