To the Editor:

On several occasions, candidates for Municipal Council have been asked their position on Princeton’s obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing in our region. The candidates have unanimously endorsed going forward and locating affordable housing in several different neighborhoods. These ideas sound like a strong start toward providing much needed additional affordable homes in Princeton, but only hint at the breadth of decisions that all Council, Planning Board, and Zoning Board members will need to make.

The current Council submitted a proposed housing element and fair share plan to the Planning Board and the public on May 17 which the Planning Board must adopt or modify for Council endorsement sometime in June. (For upcoming Council and Planning Board meetings, please see the municipal meeting calendar at www.princetonnj.gov/calendar.) With a broad brush, the plan proposes three developments in the northeast, southeast, and southwestern corners of the municipality; two similar developments at or near the shopping center on Harrison Street; and one development on Franklin Avenue across from AvalonBay.

Five of the six developments would be inclusionary, to be built by private developers typically with an 80 percent/20 percent mix of market-rate and affordable homes respectively. In all, the plan includes 1,259 proposed new homes, of which 308 would accommodate households eligible for affordable housing. Below are some questions we are asking the candidates so that they can share their thinking on the proposed housing element and fair share plan and on Princeton’s obligation: 

• What is your view of the proposed housing element and fair share plan to comply with the court’s order?

• What do you think about the plan’s inclusionary housing strategy to address part of the obligation?

• What do you think about the plan’s distribution of the affordable units within the municipality?

• What other creative strategies can you suggest to incentivize private development of inclusionary housing or 100 percent affordable housing?

We will be interested to learn what answers the candidates offer to these questions.

These questions can also serve as a springboard for the public’s participation in the upcoming Council and Planning Board meetings regarding the housing element and fair share plan. We encourage the public to attend the meetings and offer opinions and feedback. 

Thank you in advance to the candidates for their responses and to the public for its participation.

Carol Golden

Chair, Housing Initiatives of Princeton

Edward Truscelli

Executive Director, Princeton Community Housing