University tees up plan for 176 graduate units near golf course.
By: David Campbell
Princeton University’s plan to build new off-campus graduate dormitories next to Springdale Golf Course has two local officials worried about traffic impacts and affordable housing.
The university will unveil a concept plan to the Princeton Regional Planning Board Feb. 7 for a 176-unit expansion to the Lawrence Apartments graduate-housing development off Alexander Street and West Drive.
Seven new buildings of two-bedroom apartments, ranging from three to six stories, and 450 new parking spaces are proposed.
West Drive and a new, signaled intersection off Alexander Street will handle the additional traffic generated by the expansion, according to plans submitted to the Princeton Planning Office in December.
Lawrence apartments currently consists of a 12-story high-rise with 94 one-bedroom units, and a cluster of six, two-story buildings with a total of 56 two-bedroom apartments.
In a related concept plan Feb. 7, the university will present plans to build a new, 16,000-square-foot clubhouse at neighboring Springdale Golf Course with related parking, traffic access and lighting improvements.
A new practice area to replace the one used for the new construction, as well as a new putting green, new first-hole tees and a new green for the finishing hole next to the new clubhouse, also will be proposed.
Under the plan, the existing clubhouse off College Road West will be used until the new one opens, at which time it will revert to some other, unspecified use.
Princeton Borough Councilwoman Wendy Benchley said the new apartments could "heavily impact" traffic on Alexander Street, and said neighbors on Springdale Road could be negatively affected if an existing service road linking Springdale Road to Alexander Street is opened to through traffic.
Princeton Township Committeewoman Casey Hegener, who resides on nearby Ober Road, said she would be "very concerned" if Springdale Road was opened to Alexander Street, a move she said would encourage truck traffic through the residential Springdale Road neighborhood.
Ms. Hegener said the new graduate housing raises questions about impacts of institutional development on residential areas throughout Princeton.
"I think we have to worry about incursions into neighborhoods," Ms. Hegener said. "It’s a quality-of-life issue."
Ms. Benchley said any new support staff required for the expansion could put pressure on Princeton’s affordable- and middle-income housing, and said the university must "look to their larger responsibility" to Princeton and the region.
The Lawrence Apartments expansion is one of the university’s first off-campus projects and is linked to the broader question of how the University Place section of Princeton will be developed in the future, Ms. Benchley said. Last year township, borough and university officials discussed realigning University Place near the Dinky station and closing a section of College Road. Residents of Mercer and Alexander streets criticized the proposal, voicing fears of more traffic.
Ms. Benchley said she plans to ask the university Feb. 7 if it will appear again before the Planning Board to discuss its long-range development plans.
"I think this is a big enough issue that the citizens of Princeton should be alerted," Ms. Benchley said.
Similar concerns were raised at the Jan. 10 meeting of the Penns Neck Environmental Impact Statement Partners Roundtable.
At that meeting, roundtable members called for increased dialogue with the university about its development plans and Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman addressed concerns about the university’s plans for undeveloped lands fronting Route 1 it plans to acquire from Sarnoff Corp.
This week, James Britt Jr., the university’s attorney, said the graduate housing application does not propose linking Springdale Road to Alexander Street.
Jon Hlafter, the university’s director of physical plant, said the existing service road extension of Springdale Road is on golf club property, and said the club has requested access to its new clubhouse by Alexander Street, not Springdale Road.
University spokeswoman Pam Hersh said the new graduate housing will not bring new service employees to Princeton, and said concerns about impacts on affordable-housing stock are "just not valid."
Ms. Hersh said the development responds in part to past concerns raised by borough officials about the pressing need for more graduate housing, and said the new housing in fact will unburden Princeton affordable housing by removing many graduate students from the local market.
"I truly feel we have been responsive in the area of affordable housing for Princeton and we’re always open for more suggestions and creative opportunities, but we certainly feel that we’ve done a fairly substantial amount," Ms. Hersh said.
The university has given more than $2 million toward affordable housing in the last 15 years and makes "generous" donations to the borough and township annually, she said.
The land for the Karin Court affordable-housing development next to Lawrence Apartments, "several acres of land we could have gotten a lot of money for if we sold it," was donated by the university, Ms. Hersh said.
"It isn’t like we haven’t lived up to our responsibility," she said.