By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A once dormant senior housing development on the Princeton Ridge is expected to go before the Planning Board next month in a version scaled-back from what the town approved eight years ago.
Princeton Land Development LLC has proposed building 36 townhouses in nine buildings on a 23.4-acre site in the area of Route 206 and Mt. Lucas Road. The proposal this week went before the municipal Site Plan Review Advisory Board, which looked at the project for two and a half hours on Wednesday, suggested a series of improvements, and recommend the Planning Board approve it.
The Planning Board is due to hear the case Dec.10.
Of the total land area, nine of the 23.4 acres will be disturbed for the development, with the rest of the land preserved. One feature is to have a road that will cut through the site, allowing access from Mt. Lucas to Route 206. Thirty-one of the 36 towns houses each will be around 3,000 square feet, something that led SPRAB members to express concern they might be too big for people looking to downsize in their later years.
The proposed development has a long history. At the SPRAB hearing, Mark Solomon, the attorney for the developer, said that in the 1990s, the then-Princeton Township wanted to encourage age-restricted senior housing in the community.
Three sites were identified: his client’s; land near the Montgomery Township border that developer Bryce Thompson was considering building on; and what eventually became Bob Hillier’s Copperwood apartment development. All three are in the Ridge, with the then-Township Committee creating the zoning in 2001 for senior housing.
A group of residents, called the Friends of Princeton Ridge, sued the township to protect as much of the Ridge as possible, a suit that ended in a settlement in 2003.
In May 2007, the Planning Board voted to approve a 49-unit development on a larger parcel of land, 27.7 acres. But with the ensuing housing market crisis, the project was shelved.
“Now there is some recovery in the market and the owner is prepared to proceed,” Mr. Solomon said.
But in the time since 2007, the town switched gears. The council of the merged town voted to remove the zoning for senior housing on the land where Mr. Solomon’s clients intend to build. Princeton Land Development, however, filed its development application before the zoning was changed.
Also, Mr. Solomon’s clients are suing to challenge the zoning change, but their suit is on hold pending the application before the Planning Board.
In the time since the original application, the property shrunk. One of the lots, spanning 4.3 acres, was preserved for open space, Mr. Solomon said.
