Nassau Inn expansion plans delayed

Plans for a 28,000-square foot expansion of the Nassau Inn have been delayed following a request from the hotel's lawyer.

"This is a very complex issue," said Princeton Borough councilwoman and Planning Board member Wendy Benchley. "The history goes back years and years and years."

The expansion project was granted a two-year approval by the Princeton Borough Planning Board in 1998. The board had expected to hear a request from the inn for a one-year extension at its meeting on Feb. 15. However, following a request from Thomas Letzia, the inn's lawyer, discussion of the extension request has been adjourned until the planning board's April 5 meeting.

The project consists of an addition on the plaza adjoining the inn that faces Hullfish Street. It would allow expansion of the inn's ballroom, add 32 guest rooms and house two new retail stores on the street level, and is part of a larger plan to develop the Palmer Square area, said Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed.

The Palmer Square Limited Partnership, which is associated with the Nassau Inn Limited Partnership — the group proposing the inn expansion — presented plans 18 years ago to develop the Palmer Square area under special central business district zoning laws, Reed said.

The planning board has granted the inn's adjournment request "in the interests of good government and good will," Benchley said. Though Reed mentioned the slow progress of the expansion plans, he said he is hopeful that they will go forward.

During the next month, the Borough and the Nassau Inn Limited Partnership will work on several issues, including site plans and building and sewer permits.

Reed said he would like to resolve these issues before the planning board considers the official extension request, rather than making them conditions of the extension.

The current site plan dates from 1990, he said, and might not be valid today, he said. Other permits and documents related to the site plan must also be considered, he added.

Another open question is the establishment of an escrow account in which the Palmer Square partnership would deposit money to finance the costs the Borough incurs in the project, Benchley said. This is a customary step in planning board procedures. The Nassau Inn would also require the construction of a traffic light at the intersection of Chambers Street and Paul Robeson Place, said Benchley.

Princeton Borough would like to see Palmer Square and the Hullfish Street area developed, according to Benchley. She said she expects the planning board to grant the extension, and the Nassau Inn expansion plans to go forward, albeit slowly.

"I feel that there is good will on both sides and we will be able to work with them," she added.

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Councilman David Goldfarb said he is opposed to the planning board granting the extension. "My feeling is that the application for the extension should be rejected," he said. "I don't think it's going to be built."

The Borough and citizen's group Princeton Future are working with the consulting group Desman Associates to address planning and development issues in Princeton.

"It'd be better not to have the approval [for the Nassau Inn expansion] on the books if we're going to be changing [the downtown area]," Goldfarb said.

If the remaining issues are resolved, it is possible that the planning board will grant a one-year extension to the Nassau Inn's expansion plans in April, Reed said.

"I'm very hopeful that the Borough and Palmer Square will have reached an agreement by then," he said.