January 23, 2013

Princeton residents with suggestions for the future of the former hospital site on Witherspoon Street have one more chance to contribute their suggestions. Thursday at noon, the special task force formed by Princeton Council to study the zoning of the property will hold their third and final meeting before returning their findings to Princeton Council. As with the previous two meetings, held in the Municipal Building, public comment is invited.

It remains to be seen whether AvalonBay Communities, the developer that was denied approval of its plan for the site, intends to file an appeal to that decision made last month by the Regional Planning Board. The Board must formally adopt, or memorialize, the decision, after which the developer has 45 days in which to appeal in court.

In the meantime, the task force has begun preparing for the future of the site, whether with AvalonBay or without. Last week, the nine-member committee held the first of three meetings on the property’s zoning, which they hope will result in a recommendation to be presented to Council at its January 28 meeting or, at the latest, in February.

“It’s not that we feel that the current ordinance is deficient or inadequate,” task force chairman Bernie Miller told the group. “But this is an opportunity for us to bring a new perspective. We had done this when we were two communities. We are one community now.”

AvalonBay’s plan was to tear down the existing hospital building and construct a rental community of 280 units, 20 percent of which were to be set aside as affordable housing. The Planning Board voted 7-3 to deny the plan after listening to many residents criticize the proposal for its size, scope, and environmental impact, among other things.

Mr. Miller began an overview of the current zoning with an eye toward preparing a single ordinance for the entire site. Task force members were in agreement about recommending that a swimming pool not be permitted at the site. There was discussion as well about making sure the zoning does not allow for a gated community, but Planning Director Lee Solow cautioned the group to be careful about their wording.

“I understand the concern, but if you say no gated community, they will ask, where’s the gate,” he said. “There isn’t an actual gate [on the AvalonBay plan].”

Representing the hospital, attorney Mark Solomon and Vice President For Government and Community Affairs Pam Hersh each spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. Because of a declining market, the site is now worth about half of its initial value, Mr. Solomon said.

He questioned the task force as to why there was a rush to get the rezoning completed. “I know you want to move quickly. But however quickly you move, we would like you to get it right,” he said, adding that the hospital will have to go back to the marketplace should AvalonBay decline to appeal. “Obviously our desire is to retain value, and whatever comes out of your work is buildable. I don’t see us showing up tomorrow with a new buyer and a new plan.”

Since the Planning Board denied AvalonBay approval last month, the organization Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods has undertaken its own study of how work on the ordinances should proceed. The group has gotten advice from urban planner Peter Steck, according to member Alexi Assmus.

“We want to make sure we don’t have the kind of plan that AvalonBay presented,” Ms. Assmus said. “We’re defining what a closed private community is and disallowing it, looking at height and setback restrictions, and adding a list of green construction requirements to the ordinance. And our environmental attorney had drafted a site investigation section calling for a preliminary assessment of the site before site plan approval, which would require more than was done in phase one and two.”

The group will submit its recommendations for a full ordinance to the task force, Ms. Assmus said.

Should AvalonBay appeal the Planning Board’s decision and prevail, the developer can build a rental community under the existing ordinance. Once the task force decides on any changes to the ordinance, they will be introduced by Princeton Council, voted on by the Planning Board, and then sent back to the Council for a final vote.

January 2, 2013

There was business, old and new, on the agenda at a meeting of Princeton Borough Council the night after Christmas. But for the 20 or so citizens who braved a pelting rainstorm to attend this final gathering of the governing body at Borough Hall, there was an air of nostalgia about the end of an era and the fate of the Dinky.

Of the seven members of the Council, including Mayor Yina Moore, three С Jenny Crumiller, Jo Butler, and Heather Howard С will be moving on to the governing body representing the newly consolidated Princeton. Roger Martindell, Kevin Wilkes, Barbara Trelstad, and Mayor Moore will have stepped down as of January 1.

Repeatedly, members of the public thanked the Council members for their service. Alain Kornhauser, Marty Schneiderman, Jim Harford, Pam Hersh, Borough Police Lieutenant Sharon Papp, and architect/developer [and Town Topics shareholder] Bob Hillier were among those on hand who expressed gratitude to the Council for their years of work in the community.

Members of Council, in turn, singled out Mr. Kornhauser, a professor at Princeton University who has been particularly vocal in his opposition to the University’s plan to move the Dinky station as part of its Arts and Transit neighborhood. That plan was approved December 18 by the Planning Board. Borough Council was not in favor of moving the Dinky terminus.

“I share his disappointment that we weren’t able to come up with a better result for the train,” Mr. Wilkes said. “I have to thank him for what has to be thousand of hours of instructive leadership and instructive research on this issue, and always keeping it in the forefront of our minds, helping those of us who don’t understand transportation planning professionally be focused on the issues.”

Ms. Crumiller, Mayor Moore, Mr. Martindell, and Ms. Trelstad also thanked Mr. Kornhauser following his own remarks. “I can’t express enough appreciation to each of you,” Mr. Kornhauser said. “I know you all struggled mightily with the issue, and it came down the way it came down. I just wanted to express my personal thanks.”

Mayor Moore said that “a serious offer” has been made to NJ Transit to purchase the Dinky and its right of way by Henry Posner, a private investor who owns several rail lines and is a former student of Mr. Kornhauser. Mr. Posner spoke to Council in 2011 about his ideas for the Dinky line. Mayor Moore said she will write a letter to Governor Chris Christie about the offer.

Delivering the monthly police report, Ms. Papp told the Council that police will have five zones to patrol in the consolidated Princeton. Asked by Mr. Wilkes if the police departments have developed an active shooter protocol in response to the recent shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, Ms. Papp said that the department has already had drills with high school students. “Come January 1, we will be giving extra attention to the schools,” she said.

Among the actions taken at this final meeting were approval of a request by Mr. Hillier regarding The Waxwood apartments to ease eligibility requirements for prospective tenants, and the movement of an ordinance amending the Service Business (SB) Zone on East Nassau Street. An agenda item on the use of informational kiosks on Nassau Street was tabled and moved to the new Council with the assurance that a community-wide discussion will be held on the matter.

The new Princeton Council will hold a meeting Thursday, January 3 at 5 p.m. in the Municipal Building.

February 22, 2012

EMERGENCY MEASURES: Panelists at a recent meeting of Princeton Future were, from left: Jamie Chebra of Capital Health, Dean Raymond of Mercer County, Dann Dingle and Pam Hersh of the University Medical Center of Princeton, Paul Ominsky of Princeton University, Princeton Borough Police Lieutenant Robert Currier, Frank Setnicky of PFARS, Bob Gregory of Princeton Emergency Services, and Mark Freda of the Transition Task Force.

Coping with storms such as last year’s Hurricane Irene and other emergencies was the focus of an open meeting held at Princeton Public Library last Saturday by Princeton Future. About 50 people attended the forum, which began with presentations by representatives of local police and fire departments, hospitals, and first responders, and concluded with brief breakout discussions led by the representatives.

Preparedness was a recurring theme. Paul Ominsky, Princeton University’s Director of Public Safety, used the example of Hurricane Irene to illustrate how important it is to plan ahead. “We met several days before the storm,” he said, which averted major disruptions. The 30 volunteer firefighters who come from the University’s staff, as well as the students who work with PFARS (Princeton First Aid & Rescue), were part of “a pretty seamless system,” he added. “We’re actually the third police department in town. We have sworn campus police officers, a dispatch center, communications officers, security officers, a fire marshal, and an event staff of 22 retired police officers. The University tries to be self-sufficient so that we’re not taking up municipal resources.”

The widespread use of mobile phones and constantly improving technology has considerably changed the system of emergency response, said the forum moderator, Bill Metro. Unlike with land lines, mobiles don’t indicate a caller’s location. So those fielding the calls have to take the time to ask where the emergency is happening. “There is a greater volume of calls coming into 911 dispatchers, because so many people at a scene might be calling at once,” he said. “In some ways, 911 centers are going backwards in terms of efficiency. But they’re doing the best they can.”

The speakers described emergency management at different levels, starting with the local officers and moving to the county, state, and federal departments. Dean Raymond, Mercer County Emergency Management Coordinator, also stressed the importance of personal preparedness. Individuals should have an emergency contact who can care for pets and keep an eye on the house should a medical emergency arise.

The consolidation of Princeton Borough and Township will improve response to emergencies, more than one of the presenters said. Frank Setnicky of PFARS said the number of calls for assistance has increased by about five percent each year. “We know it will increase more in 2013, but there is no way to know how much,” he said, referring to the opening of the University Medical Center at Princeton’s new facility on U.S. Route 1 in Plainsboro.

Pam Hersh, vice president for Government and Community Affairs for Princeton Healthcare System, which operates the hospital, stressed that the move will not clog traffic on the highway, as many fear. Since 70 percent of those served by the hospital come from areas on the other side of Route 1, an extra turning lane has been added to the Harrison Street exit, and the hospital has paid for a system that will allow responders from PFARS and Princeton University to change the traffic light during an emergency, the transition is expected to go smoothly, she said.

Dann Doyle, Director of Security and Emergency Management at UMCP added that all of the hospitals in the county, including the new Capital Health facility that recently opened in Hopewell Township, have made an effort to coordinate with the use of emergency equipment. “Yes, we compete,” he said. “But behind the scenes, I’ve got each of these guys on speed dial.”