A Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of Princeton University against a citizens group that had sued to block the relocation of the Dinky station.
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of Princeton University against a citizens group that had sued to block the relocation of the Dinky station, the latest legal victory for the college in a running battle over its $330 million arts and transit project.
Superior Court Judge Paul Innes last week threw out the last remaining count of a lawsuit that Save the Dinky and others had brought two years ago to thwart the university’s plans. In dismissing the suit, the judge shot down one of the arguments Save the Dinky and its supporters had made for why the Dinky should not be moved.
In his Dec.23 decision, the judge found that university was within its rights to have New Jersey Transit relocate the train station 460 feet south — a relocation that the university has said is necessary. That was the last issue for the judge to consider, as he had thrown out two others counts in the Save the Dinky suit in prior rulings.
In reaching his legal conclusion, the judge referenced the 1984 sales agreement between NJ Transit and the university — in which the college acquired the land and station buildings from NJ Transit — and a 1996 amendment to that agreement.
”This court finds that the terms of the agreements are facially clear,” Judge Innes wrote. “A plain reading of the 1984 agreement and its 1996 amendment indicates that the proposed relocation is not contrary to the agreements.”