By Philip Sean Curran and Lea Kahn, Staff Writers
Princeton has reached a settlement “in principle” on what the town’s affordable housing requirement will be, in a deal with implications for the school district and the addition of more school-age children., The agreement will end the litigation that the town has been in, at a trial in Mercer County Superior Court, in a case pitting Princeton and other Mercer County towns against the Fair Share Housing Center, a Camden-based affordable housing advocacy organization., But Princeton and Fair Share Housing Center were able to reach a deal after closed-door discussions, although details about the number of units Princeton is responsible for have not been released., “We are currently working to finalize the details of that settlement, and we anticipate being able to share those details within the next several weeks,” the town said Thursday in a statement released by Mayor Liz Lempert., “We can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle with Princeton,” said Fair Share Housing Center spokesman Anthony Campisi Friday. “Although we still have work to do before the settlement is finalized, we want to thank Princeton for coming to the table to work on a plan to satisfy the New Jersey Constitution’s fair housing requirement and increase opportunities for working families, seniors and people with disabilities to live in one of our state’s iconic communities. We will hopefully have more details to announce soon.”, The two sides had been far apart on the number of units for Princeton, an obligation to cover the period from 1999-2025. Mayor Lempert, though, had expressed concern that there would a large amount of development, including for-market housing., Princeton requires developers to construct affordable housing on a 4-1 ratio, so one affordable unit for every four market units. For instance, the 280-unit AvalonBay development has 56 affordable., The town has a mix of affordable housing arrangements, including 100 percent affordable that the town financially contributes toward, group homes and some with an even mix of affordable and market rate units., Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane said Friday that once the district gets Princeton’s affordable housing requirement, it can share that information with its demographer. That will help the district forecast enrollment in the coming years, this at a time when the district is preparing a facilities bond referendum., The district already has seen an enrollment growth in the past five years of more than 330 students.
