Amid the controversy over plans for a parking garage on Spring Street, some Princeton Borough residents want the University to play a larger role in solving the downtown parking problem.
At Tuesday night's Borough Council meeting, a representative from the developer Nassau/HKT Associates announced the final plans for the garage to an unusually rowdy audience.
The plan includes a new public library, small apartment buildings, and a 5.5-level parking garage with 500 spaces between Tulane and Witherspoon streets.
Jim Firestone, head of Concerned Citizens of Princeton, which is leading the opposition to the garage, said if the University alleviates its own parking problem, the Borough would not need a parking complex.
Firestone — who is not related to the benefactors of Firestone Library — said a parking garage would inconvenience residents who are used to running into a store or the library without descending elevators or stairs. He added that it would detract from the beauty of the town.
"All of us want the [parking problem on the] block finished off," Firestone said. "The University ought to be playing a more significant role."
But Borough and University officials said the University has taken sufficient action to accommodate visitor parking.
"When we said people will not walk to Jadwin [Gym], they built the Prospect Avenue parking garage," Borough Mayor Marvin Reed said of the old system where visitors parked in Lot 21. "To date that has worked quite well."
Robert Durkee '69, University vice president for public affairs, also said that the University has taken significant steps to control parking not only for visitors, but for construction workers.
"The University provides parking in West Windsor and shuttles [the workers] up," Durkee said.
In addition, the University constructed a parking garage near Baker Rink in winter 2000-01.
However, Firestone said University visitors continue to unknowingly park outside the gates. He added that University construction workers also park on Borough streets, filling parking spaces.
Firestone suggested that the University build a low-level 300-space garage behind 185 Nassau St. for guests and construction workers who currently park on Borough side streets.
Pam Hersh, University director of community and state affairs, said she and Durkee informed the Concerned Citizens of Princeton about the University's parking plans in a meeting with the group last week.
"For years, the planning board in Princeton has truly wanted us to keep cars off of Nassau Street, and we have done that," Hersh said. "We're solving our own parking problem."
Durkee added that while some University visitors park in town, the Borough benefits from their business and from parking fares.
"A fairly substantial portion of the Borough budget comes from visitor parking," Durkee said. "Visitors contribute to the economic health of the town."
Firestone is also concerned that the development plan follows a theory called "smart growth" that will turn the Borough into a city. Smart growth advocates concentrating as many people as possible into existing developed areas to avoid suburban sprawl.
According to a survey conducted by Borough resident Herb Hobler '44, at least 72 percent of the Borough stands in opposition to the Borough's plan to build the garage.
However, some residents said they would approve of the plan if the University would contribute financially.
Alan Hegedus, a resident who serves on the Princeton Regional School Board, said that because the University is the largest landowner in the Borough, has a tax-exempt status as a nonprofit and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, it should contribute to the project.
But Durkee refuted these points.
"The project is paid for by tax revenues," he said.
"The University is the biggest taxpayer in the Borough."
Firestone is organizing two meetings on Nov. 25 in Nassau Hall: one for merchants to voice their concerns and one for residents to speak on how the University can help. He encouraged students to take a stand on the issue.
"It's your town and your gown," Firestone said.
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