Neighbors of hospital fear unwanted changes

Princeton Future begins examination of possible uses after medical center leaves its Witherspoon Street campus.

By: Jennifer Potash
   The old maxim that breaking up is hard do to may apply to Princeton HealthCare System’s decision to move from Witherspoon Street and build a new, expanded facility in the Route 1 corridor.
   Several residents attending a Princeton Future meeting on Saturday about the possible uses of the hospital’s nearly 12-acre site voiced trepidation about rezoning the land and how resulting development may cause unwanted changes to the surrounding neighborhood.
   Princeton Future’s Witherspoon Street Corridor Study project narrowed its focus to offer some design guidelines for the future use of the hospital site.
   An advisory committee to the study project made several recommendations for future development, including mostly residential uses and permitting "only full tax-paying uses" with no payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, arrangements. Other suggestions include a flexible plan that will encourage multiple parcels of land and different developers.
   Design parameters call for a mix of housing types, such as housing for seniors and a variety of incomes.
   Office buildings, a mall, a continuing care retirement community or a Palmer Square-like development are not included in the mix, because those uses "are developed in economies of scale that are large and inappropriate for the site," the advisory committee concluded.
   The parameters stemmed from public discussions as well as reports from PHCS and the volunteer Princeton Hospital Task Force, said Yina Moore, a Princeton Future member and co-chair of the Witherspoon Street study project. "This is not a preconceived list," she said.
   Residents expressed opposition to a recommendation that the medical center be granted approval for 35,000 square feet of new construction for updated facilities in the next three to five years. The hospital site, which straddles the Princeton Borough-Princeton Township border, has the zoning capacity of an additional 3,090 square feet.
   Jamie Laliberte, a Harris Road resident, said new buildings could have an adverse affect on the neighborhood. She suggested Princeton Future focus more on the immediate changes at the hospital site.
   "What’s going to happen to those (new) buildings when the hospital does vacate?" Ms. Laliberte asked. "We’re looking at a future after the hospital. I’m concerned about the next three to five years with what they’re going to do."
   Heidi Fichtenbaum of Carnahan Place said 35,000 square feet is slightly larger than the medical office building at the corner of Witherspoon Street and Henry Avenue.
   "(The Medical Center) is not obligated to do (that development) in little tiny pieces," she said in reference to the possibility that a single large building could be built.
   Jeff Furey of Witherspoon Street objected to the possibility of allowing the hospital’s need to fetch a substantial price for the land to dictate how the land may be rezoned.
   In January, the PHCS board of trustees voted to explore building a new state-of-the-art hospital campus at an estimated cost of about $250 million. After identifying three properties of 50 acres or more within two to six miles of the current hospital site off Witherspoon Street for a new health-care campus, PCHS hired the firm AMDC to prepare a business plan for the possible move that is to include preferred and fallback sites.
   Michael Floyd, a Lawrence resident who grew up in the John-Witherpsoon neighborhood, cautioned against giving the hospital wide latitude.
   "It’s on Witherspoon Street where many, many, many zoning boards have let many, many, many things go contrary to what the character of the neighborhood is or was," Mr. Floyd said.
   Robert Geddes, a co-president of Princeton Future, suggested hiring a consultant to develop new zoning guidelines.
   "I think a way should be found to plan this (site) as a unique place and not just as another part of town, but a very special part of town," said Mr. Geddes, who is a former dean of Princeton University’s School of Architecture.
   The potential of the Merwick Rehab Hospital & Nursing Care facility on Bayard Lane for redevelopment could have as great an effect on the John-Witherspoon neighborhood residents as new development on the Witherspoon Street site, said Joanna Kendig, a John Street resident.
   The next Princeton Future meeting on April 16 will offer possible designs for the hospital lands.
   Princeton Future is seeking comments from residents on the proposed study and design guidelines. Letters may be sent to [email protected] or P.O. Box 493, Princeton, NJ 08542.