PRINCETON: Two major projects before the Planning Board

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   The Regional Planning Board will seek to decide two major development projects on back-to-back nights, with Princeton University’s arts and transit neighborhood the first up tonight, Tuesday.
   The current board has a 14-day life span before it goes out existence due to consolidation; afterward a new board will be created. In that remaining time, the board has the university scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. meeting and has AvalonBay, the developer of the former Princeton Hospital site, on for the same time on Wednesday.
   In both cases, the board is up against deadlines to take action this week or both projects will be automatically approved.
   The university is seeking approval for constructing its Lewis Center for the Arts, building a new train station, and making street and other improvements.
   Although some oppose the project because it means moving the terminus of New Jersey Transit’s Dinky line about 460-480 feet south, the board is not deciding the Dinky issue as part of its deliberation. University Vice President and Secretary Robert K. Durkee said in an email Saturday that the school expects a vote Tuesday night.
   Likewise, AvalonBay vice president Ronald S. Ladell said Friday that he is expecting a vote Wednesday. The Planning Board already has squeezed three hearings on AvalonBay’s 280-unit apartment building this month, all of them lasting more than three and a half hours.
   In both cases, opponents have hired lawyers and brought experts to convince the Planning Board to reject the projects. It’s possible the opponents could file a lawsuit in Superior Court after the board votes, so this week’s decisions might not be the final word in either case.
   Both the university and AvalonBay say their projects conform to the zoning for their respective areas. But at the Planning Board hearing Thursday, opponents of the AvalonBay project brought an expert witness to testify that AvalonBay needs variances, and that the case needs to be heard before the local zoning board.
   Mr. Ladell, who also has been serving as the lead lawyer during Planning Board meetings, did not get a chance to cross-examine that witness, Peter Steck, but will get to do so Wednesday night. The Planning Board, instead, sought Wednesday to give residents who won’t be able to attend Wednesday’s hearing a chance to weigh in.
   Residents urged the board to reject the project that calls for demolishing the former hospital.