PRINCETON: Colleges to be asked to oppose exemption bill

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Borough Council will ask Princeton University and three other area institutions to oppose a state Assembly bill exempting private colleges from having to go before local planning and zoning boards.
   Borough Councilman Roger Martindell will draft a letter to the presidents of those institutions and present it to his fellow council members for their review. At the council meeting Sept. 11, officials will decide what to say in the letter and decide if they should send it to Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman and the leaders of Rider University, the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton Theological Seminary, Mr. Martindell said. Westminster Choir College, located on Walnut Lane in Princeton, is a division of Rider.
   Mr. Martindell said the council wants those four leaders to join the governing body in lobbying the state Assembly higher education committee to defeat the bill.
   ”It is to put them on the spot,” said Mr. Martindell in a phone interview.
   He said he would leave it up to them to decide what action to take, such as releasing a public statement or through calling lawmakers.Borough Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller, an opponent of the Assembly bill, said Friday that she supports having “our local institutions on the record, one way or the other.”
   For its part, Princeton University, a major landowner in the borough and the township, was staying mum on the council’s idea.
   ”If and when the letter arrives, the university would comment then. But until we see it, there’s nothing to comment on,” said Dan Day, a university spokesman.
   The state Legislature is considering exempting private colleges in New Jersey from going before land use boards and from municipal zoning codes. Public universities already are exempt. The legislation has bipartisan support, with Republicans and Democrats sponsoring bills in both houses of the Legislature.
   By a 26-8 vote, the state Senate passed its version of the bill in June. The Assembly version is still at the Higher Education Committee.
   Mayors of towns with private colleges have said they oppose the measure. They have expressed concern about losing the checks and balances that land use boards provide if the bill becomes law.
   In addition to municipal officials, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities and the American Planning Association-New Jersey chapter also are opposed.
   The Borough Council has already passed a resolution opposing to the bill. Borough officials have urged the public to get involved by signing a petition against the measure.
   ”Our view,” Mr. Martindell said, “is the community as a whole would be disserviced by that legislation.”