To the Editor:
I very much appreciated the civility and courtesy of Councilman David Cohen’s response in the last issue of Town Topics to Sean Wilentz’s letter in the previous issue concerning the negative impact on the surrounding and largely poorer communities of Mercer County of a PILOT project in Princeton.
I also appreciated Councilman Cohen’s clarification of exactly how Princeton PILOT projects adversely affect those communities. His description of the pass-throughs and burden-shifts under a PILOT couldn’t be clearer: we pay less in taxes to Mercer County, they pay more.
But I am disturbed that he says he is comfortable with this. For I am appalled that we are using a program intended to encourage investment in less wealthy and more distressed communities than Princeton — those with buildings that, the relevant statute states, are “substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, or obsolescent” — to secure investment in Princeton.
In truth, I find the whole thing shameful. It is as if I have been told that we take money from the church collection plate every Sunday, money intended for the poor and the distressed, but can feel justified in doing so because, after all, we gave at the office!
There must be other ways to invest in Princeton than robbing Peter.
And I am all for investing in Princeton. I was happy to learn from other contributions to this continuing debate that with more than a dozen other projects in town we have met our legally required affordable housing obligation, even without the Stockton Street behemoth.
Could we do more? Yes. Personally, that’s what I want Council members to do: find creative and affordable ways to make life better for all of us. The Stockton Street property offers a perfect opportunity to show creativity, expand affordability, and find a path forward that doesn’t come at the expense of those less well-placed than most Princetonians.
The property still belongs to the Princeton Theological Seminary and is therefore tax exempt. Any project on the site that results in more tax revenue is a net gain for the town. So, why this project, by this developer? Cui bono?
Why not a project that leverages the enormous asset of a prime Princeton location to the benefit of all? Why can’t we find more community-minded, precedent-setting ways to make the most of such assets?