PRINCETONl AvalonBay project rejected by Planning Board

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   The Regional Planning Board voted Thursday to reject developer AvalonBay’s proposal to build a 280-unit apartment building at the site of the former University Medical Center of Princeton on Witherspoon Street.
   The 7-3 vote, coming after midnight during the last hearing on the case, drew cheers and applause from the public that stayed to see the outcome. Board members expressed deep concerns that local design standards were ignored and echoed other concerns the public raised about allowing a “gated” community into Princeton.
   ”We wanted something integrated with the community,” said board chairwoman Wanda Gunning before the vote.
   It was not immediately known if AvalonBay would file a lawsuit in Superior Court seeking to overturn the decision. AvalonBay Vice President Ronald S. Ladell left the meeting room in the Township municipal building declining to comment to reporters.
   In a statement released Thursday, Princeton HealthCare System said it “has been watching the site plan process closely.
   ”We have always advocated that the process should be allowed to occur. This part of the process is now finished. AvalonBay will need to make a decision on how it intends to proceed. We have confidence that in the end, the process will result in an appropriate outcome for the community.”
   The hearing, beginning Wednesday night and drifting into Thursday morning, saw a steady stream of residents urge the board to reject the project.
   Paul Driscoll, a resident in the Witherspoon Street neighborhood, felt AvalonBay was proposing an “enclosed structure” separate from where he lives.
   Joseph Weiss, a local architect, charged that AvalonBay wanted to build “essentially a fortress” that walls off the neighborhood in a building as big as Princeton University’s football stadium.
   Jane Butters labeled it a “private-gated community,” something that is prohibited locally.
   Later, lawyers on both sides questioned witnesses in a series of exchanges before the board voted.
   In her comments, Borough Councilwoman and Planning Board member Jenny Crumiller said she had served on a design committee that met with AvalonBay.
   ”We begged for breaks in the façade along Franklin, which would both look more attractive and appear in keeping with the neighborhood and provide the openness that I feel the design standards are calling for,” she said. “Further, when we suggested we might support an increased building height if they would go higher in the center of the site and lower around the edges, they made clear they would not do that, even if it were more convenient for their residents who might wish to live closer to the parking garage. The overriding theme was ‘AvalonBay is a brand and that’s what you get.’ “
   The board opposed a project that called for 280-units, including a mix of studios, one, two and three bedroom apartments, in a 48-foot-building at it highest point. Though different from earlier proposals for the site, AvalonBay maintained that its project met all local zoning requirements. Opponents disagreed, however.The opposition, known as Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods, waged an aggressive, organized campaign to beat AvalonBay, a Maryland-based developer with close to 20 other projects in New Jersey. As part of their arguments, they raised environmental concerns, including questions about underground storage tanks — even though a consultant the board had hired said soil and groundwater investigations done “to date” indicate no contamination.
   Mr. Ladell said he took exception to opponents’ allegations that AvalonBay was hiding something.
   In his remarks to the board, he responded to some of the public’s concerns. He said the private swimming pool proposed for the project is allowed under ordinance, an issue that a member of the public questioned the need for given the project’s proximity to Community Park Pool.
   At an earlier board hearing, Mr. Ladell said “virtually” every other AvalonBay community has a pool, something its residents expect.
   He also said the project provided 56 units of affordable housing, 20 percent of all the apartments in the building. He noted that through the years, Princeton has given other developers relief on their affordable housing requirement.
   It was not clear what happens next at the site.
   Alexi Assmus, a leader of Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods who was a fixture at Planning Board meetings, said Thursday in an email that her group “is committed to the redevelopment of the former hospital site as an open development using the principles of good architectural design and green building construction.
   ”As a citizen’s group,” she continued, “we will participate in making this come to pass.”
   The Planning Board squeezed four hearings on the project into this month alone, most drifting late into the night. The board is in its final weeks as an entity, as it will dissolve at the end of the year due to consolidation.
   The AvalonBay decision capped a busy week for Planning Board members, who on Tuesday approved Princeton University’s $300 million arts and transit project.