Town planners last week acknowledged that a regular review of the Princeton Community Master Plan would need to be in concert with, or at least considered with, Princeton University's long-term plans, which are expected to have lasting impact on certain aspects of town development and infrastructure.
The 2007 review by the Master Plan Subcommittee of the Regional Planning Board of Princeton began last Thursday and will likely, at least in part, be coordinated with the goals put forth in the University's campus plan, which is now in its second year. Most particularly, the University's overall impact on housing, circulation, land use, and community goals, will have to be part of the master plan review.
"We need to make our master plan consistent with the University master plan, and vice versa," said Planning Board member and Chairman of the Board's Master Plan Subcommittee Marvin Reed, leaving committee members wondering if the town's document should include a separate section on Princeton University altogether.
"Whatever the document says, this town has been remarkable in making things happen fast," said Board member Gail Ullman, adding her belief that the master plan should address the University and anticipate when the town-gown relationship between it and the town arrives at certain "fragile boundaries; it is good planning practice to have a more carefully defined statement about the University."
Last year, following the 2004 announcement that the school would look to expand inward rather than adhering to the former institutional philosophy of developing vacant land in West Windsor as part of a mirror campus, the University announced it planned to develop an arts center at the southern portion of campus near Alexander Street and University Place. The initiative, sparked by an unprecedented $110 million contribution from auto insurance executive Peter B. Lewis, will likely result in a complete developmental overhaul of the area, including a likely redesign of the Dinky station, as well as a major realignment of University Place. Considering that the University will have to seek dual municipal approval since that area straddles the Borough-Township municipal line, there seemed to be a consensus among planners last week that University development should be explicitly addressed in the Master Plan.
Kristin Appelget, the University's director of Community and Regional Affairs, said the school would likely begin addressing the arts neighborhood initiative with the Master Plan Subcommittee "hopefully" by the end of the month. Jon Hlafter, the school's architect, added that one of the impacts of the arts neighborhood analysis will be on the eastern portion of campus, near Jadwin Gym, as the school attempts to displace traffic and parking. The eastern campus, Mr. Hlafter said, "will clearly be an area where there will be some change." Preliminary University plans indicate that a parking garage could be built near the existing baseball fields.
Other areas addressed last Thursday included issues related to recreation. The Princeton Recreation Department, currently underway with a full review of its master plan, will likely seek new facilities in the next 10 or 15 years. Jack Roberts, Recreation Department executive director, said the current review is to get a sense of physical inventory, as well as to examine public policy trends in other communities.
Kim Pimley, a Borough resident who is currently involved in a battle against the proposed historic designation of a swath of the Borough's western section, asked the subcommittee to consider removing the so-called Morven Tract from the Master Plan's recommendations for historic designation. "The situation has created divisiveness among neighbors," she said.
Paul Kapp, a Township resident, worried that the subcommittee deliberations might not "reflect the wishes of the community." The board's Mr. Reed maintained that the Master Plan is effectively a philosophical document, and any of its aims require municipal ratification before being implemented. "If we thought that anything here was going to be disturbing or controversial, we would go out of our way to make sure these things are publicized," he said.
The Master Plan review, required for completion by October, is the first significant examination of the document since 2001, when it was updated from its 1996 version. The entire document is available on the Princeton Township municipal Web site.