Against the Princeton Borough Council's wishes, the University Cottage Club has applied to be designated as a state historic site.
Council members suspect that Cottage's board of governors has ulterior motives in applying for state historic site standing.
"The club is attempting to avoid paying taxes," Councilman David Goldfarb said.
New Jersey law rules that any state historical site run by a nonprofit organization is exempt from real estate taxes.
In 1999 the club was added to the National Register of Historic Places, based on the "architectural structure of the building, high degree of historic integrity, and significant cultural contributions to the community," according to Cottage's website.
The club was started in 1886 and the Prospect Avenue mansion was built in 1906.
Princeton lore has it that former member F. Scott Fitzgerald '17 began his novel, "This Side of Paradise," in the club's library.
The club is mentioned several times in his book. The protagonist Amory Blaine "slid smoothly into Cottage" during Bicker. Fitzgerald described it as an impressive "melange of brilliant adventurers and well-dressed philanderers" and "the parlor-snakes' delight."
Former Sen. Bill Bradley '65, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist '74 and Heisman Trophy winner Richard Kazmaier '52 are also among Cottage's alumni.
Last March, the club submitted a tax-exempt application to the Borough. The Borough rejected the application, and the club protested. The case is now being reviewed and will be decided by a judge, Councilman Roger Martindell said.
Arthur Bellows '60, Cottage's graduate board chair, declined to comment because of legal issues.
The Borough has outwardly disapproved of the club's actions and informed all involved parties of its position, Goldfarb said.
"This has the potential of being a disaster for the Borough," Martindell, chairman of the council's finance committee said.
The total assessed value for Cottage's site is $1.5 million, according to tax records. The club was charged $51,000 in property taxes last year, The Times of Trenton reported.
If Cottage Club wins this case, council members fear, other similar situations would follow with the other taxpaying eating clubs.
Some of the biggest properties in Princeton are the eating clubs, Martindell said, and thousands of dollars a year would be lost if all the properties were exempt from taxes.
The Borough provides Prospect Avenue with police, fire and garbage services.
"To ask local taxpayers to cover those expenses for the operations of private clubs would be, to say the least, unfair," Martindell said.
The eating club is not the type of property for which the law was intended, Goldfarb stated.
As a private club, Cottage is only open to members and their guests, but Cottage's manager Pam Husik told The Times that the site is open to the public during the summer.
"I have no objections to the other benefits that accompany historical status, but the reasons for this proposal are all wrong," Goldfarb said.
The Princeton Historical Society had no comment, saying that they are a small, local group and were unrelated to the case.
Eric Pearson '03, Cottage president, declined to comment, stating that he knew little about the issue.
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