A new development will rise on the 12-acre site of the main campus of the University Medical Center at Princeton (UMCP). There, the two main hospital towers are likely to be converted into somewhere between 229 and 280 residences; a park will stand along Witherspoon Street where medical offices once stood; and shops will line a stretch along Witherspoon moving north from Franklin Avenue, while another shopping strip could line Witherspoon near Henry Avenue.
Although it may not actually run through the development, a new road will provide enough access, planners say, to preclude a "gated community" effect, despite the vocal concerns of neighbors and local activists.
While none of these plans have been approved or even thoroughly designed, they indicate the prospect faced by Princeton Borough and Township governing bodies as new zoning is considered that will, one day, dictate future development on the current hospital site on Witherspoon Street.
Municipal planning for the hospital's anticipated departure for Plainsboro is well into its second year now, and what will take its place once it leaves — in five to seven years according to most estimates — is slowly becoming clear as Princeton's Planning Department, having processed data from myriad public hearings along with residential and municipal feedback, showcases prospective zoning to the Princeton Borough and Township governing bodies, reflecting recent amendments made to the Princeton Community Master Plan.
The site straddles the Borough/Township municipal border, exacerbating an already complicated situation. The two towns have different zoning standards, and, more importantly, two governments that rarely communicate, a fact acknowledged by several elected officials.
Other concerns have arisen. Those living in the immediate vicinity have mostly worried about the height of the hospital buildings, which they think would never have been approved except for medical usage; they feel that a reduction in height should be considered, meaning a removal of at least the top two floors. Conversely, several members of the Regional Planning Board of Princeton and the officials representing Princeton HealthCare System (PHCS), UMCP's parent entity, say the towns will not get the desired level of affordable housing and open space if the building height is reduced and spread out over the 12-acre site.
Planning for the hospital's departure is far more extensive in the Borough, where most of the proposed residences would be located. The Township portion of the site is largely composed of the hospital garage, the Medical Arts Building at the corner of Witherspoon and Henry Avenue, some residences in Harris Road to the east, the hospital's surgi-center, and one medical office building. The medical office building and surgi-center are likely to be removed, but the Medical Arts Building could be used as office buildings, and it is almost certain that the garage will remain to provide parking for future development.
When Planning Director Lee Solow presented three draft zoning ordinances to Borough Council July 11 — one outlining future development standards, creating a new MRRO (Mixed Residential Retail Office) zoning district; one mandating building design standards within the MRRO; and one that would create a new zone, R4A, on the existing surface parking lot on Franklin Avenue — Council members had to grapple with the idea of reusing existing buildings.
"The hospital got relief no other developer would be entitled to," said Councilman David Goldfarb, who is a proponent of shaving two stories off the hospital towers if they are converted to residential buildings. "We need to require ways to mitigate the visual impact," he said.
But Councilman Roger Martindell voiced the general sentiment of the Planning Board, saying that the buildings should remain at height. "If we tear down two stories, we are removing [space] from the public domain and from the tax base," he said.
Pam Hersh, vice president for Government and Community Affairs at Princeton HealthCare System, said that the proposed zoning was the "poster child" for smart growth and sustainability, as the buildings would be reused, and be compliant with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.
Knocking the buildings down, she said, would be an "obscene waste of materials and resources."
Council President Peggy Karcher seemed to agree when she acknowledged that height "allows us open space that we might not have on the ground level.
"I am not in favor of taking the height down at all."
This past Monday, hospital administrators, this time accompanied by J. Robert Hillier, the architect retained by PHCS as a design consultant presenting possible scenarios for future development, addressed members of Township Committee.
Mr. Hillier, a principal of the West Windsor-based Hillier Architecture and a part owner of Town Topics, focused on the garage as a pivotal part of hospital site redevelopment. As it stands, the garage holds 697 spaces, but, if there is a retail presence on Witherspoon Street near Henry Avenue, the parking requirement, along with spaces mandated for residences, offices, and commercial space to the south, could balloon to 712. That number would go down, Mr. Hiller said, if the full 280 one-bedroom residences were built in the Borough portion of the site, rather than more two-bedroom units. Fewer spaces are mandated for one-bedroom apartments.
However, even if the development calls for full garage capacity, Mr. Hillier said that residential parking would probably be at a low at the times of day when commercial activity would be at its peak: "There is a staggering of the times which works to our advantage and frankly gets better use out of the parking garage," he said.
Neither of the governing bodies are expected to make any decision on prospective zoning until the fall. Both the Borough and Township are likely to entertain zoning ordinance introductions in either September or October.