By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
Though a Princeton Regional Planning Board session on the subject hasn’t been scheduled, Princeton University’s recently finalized Campus Plan is still set to come under scrutiny this week — this time by community group Princeton Future.
Created to guide development of the 380-acre campus through 2016 and beyond, the comprehensive plan recommends changes to the campus including major projects such as the construction of an Arts and Transit Neighborhood and a new parking garage off Western Way.
”Princeton (University) has really very thoroughly laid out their plans on the table and I think with a high degree of honesty said what they want to do,” said Princeton Future Development Director Kevin Wilkes. “I think it’s incumbent on ourselves and our community to understand the implications of their campus plan and give the university a response.”
To that end, the Princeton Future meeting 9 a.m. Saturday at the Princeton Public Library’s community meeting room will examine if the Campus Plan is compatible with the Princeton Community Master Plan.
”It’s an attempt to start this conversation about how the town’s plan and how the campus plan interrelate,” Mr. Wilkes said.
During the meeting, Mr. Wilkes will moderate a panel including Princeton Future Chairman Robert Geddes, board member Peter Kann, University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee, and Regional Planning Board member Marvin Reed, who is the chairman of the board’s Master Plan subcommittee.
A week after the plan was posted to the university’s Web site, Mr. Reed circulated a memo to local officials citing concerns about several aspects of the plan, namely the potential impacts of the garage on traffic circulation and the relocation of the Dinky train station.
Though he said he doesn’t know when the university will appear before the Planning Board, Mr. Reed said he hopes to continue to address those concerns — which he said have caused a “certain level of controversy” — during the Princeton Future meeting.
”We’ll deal with some of that on Saturday morning,” he said.
Mr. Wilkes said the goal is to determine what the plans have in common, where they diverge, and “what these two documents say about our community.” He called the meeting a “vital event for the community to attend.”
”I hope people could afford three hours next Saturday morning to come listen,” he said. “This is going to be very exciting, even if you’re not a policy wonk.”
The meeting is open to the public and is expected to last until 12:30 p.m. Refreshments will be provided by Witherspoon Bread Company.
The Campus Plan can be viewed at www.princeton.edu/campusplan.
