Princeton University's prolonged battle to increase development capacity in its Engineering Quadrangle (E-Quad) near Murray Place and Prospect Avenue has hit another snag: this time, not with the neighbors who had previously objected to the expansion, but with the entity that would ultimately allow or deny the expansion plan: Princeton Borough Council.
Last Tuesday, Council introduced by a 3-2 vote an ordinance allowing for zoning changes that would permit a development increase of 100,000 square feet on the E-Quad. However, when some members of Council sought increased financial contributions to the municipality to offset any infrastructural upkeep (roads, sewers) caused by the expansion, University officials, who had worked with residents of the surrounding neighborhoods to broker a compromise, faced a new battle.
When the proposal was first brought forth earlier this year, residents of Murray Place, and those of nearby Patton and Princeton avenues balked, saying increased development would cause more cars on adjacent roads. Murray Place recently had speed humps installed because of speeding cars using the residential street as a cut-through to Prospect Avenue.
But after several meetings, the University and residents arrived at a deal: if the University were to seek expansion it would have to maintain a 250-foot development setback abutting Murray Place to the east, include a 50-foot heavily landscaped buffer, and require the use of a jitney transportation system to shuttle employees and students to the Engineering School. Additional caps to parking spaces were also part of that deal.
The ordinance also proposes to retain Von Neumann: a low-light, one-story building that lies within the 250-foot buffer. If that building were to be torn down, the University would not be permitted to construct a larger building in its place.
In May, when an ordinance to change the zoning in the E-3, the district in which the E-Quad lies, was up for introduction, the Borough was reluctant to consider the code, citing the University's failure to deliver a plan clarifying its intentions.
This time, Robert Durkee, vice president and secretary at the University, cited specific expansions of the Operations, Research, and Financial Engineering (ORFE) department, finding additional space for work conducted at the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM).
The E-3 was formed in 1990 when the University first sought expansion on the E-Quad. The school faced a similar battle with residents, many of whom re-appeared for the 2005 face-off, but the results were different this time: the University and the residents were on the same page.
The same could not be said for Borough Council.
"We need to approach this ordinance as impacting the community as a whole," said Councilman Roger Martindell, who, in a bit of political theater, stepped down from the dais and spoke at the audience microphone, praising the efforts of the Murray Place neighborhood residents. But those efforts, he said, should not only benefit those particular residents. Mr. Martindell added that an additional 100,000 square feet calls for more services, such as fire and police.
"As any proposal has benefits, it also has burdens." Mr. Martindell said, encouraging Council to take its time and put the ordinance introduction on hold: "What's the hurry? We have to deal with the community that's going to be here when we're gone." Councilman Andrew Koontz voted in favor of introducing the ordinance, suggesting that the University, in keeping with its goals for a denser, less spread-out campus, "needs to grow within the designated zones.
"We need to encourage the idea of condensing the campus," he said.
Later, Mr. Martindell made a bid for increased financial contributions from the University: "We do not receive the support from the University that we need: here's an opportunity and we are blowing that away."
Mr. Durkee said that the University's contribution to the Borough this year is $300,000 more than last, and under the existing agreement, that amount will increase by $60,000 next year.
Pointing out that talks with the late Mayor Joseph O'Neill had explored further contributions, Mr. Durkee said: "We're prepared to have those conversations continue."