University administrators clashed with Borough officials and residents last night in a heated public work session held to discuss the University's plans for expansion and address possible conflicts with the greater Princeton Community Master Plan.
Led by University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee '69, the University contingent met with members of the Princeton Planning Board.
Citing the board's belief that Princeton "is not simply a college town and is not a town for one institution," chair of the Master Plan Subcommittee Marvin Reed said it is vital that the greater Princeton community and the multiple educational institutions that inhabit it — including the University, Princeton Theological Seminary and the Institute for Advanced Study — grow together cooperatively.
"It's an interesting community because it has one of the great universities but isn't a college town," Durkee said in an interview after the meeting.
Chief among the Planning Board's concerns are proposed changes to the Dinky station, traffic flow issues, the impact of the University on the economic viability of businesses on Nassau Street and the overall continued expansion of the University.
The Dinky, the Wawa, the Arts Neighborhood
The Dinky station will be relocated 460 feet south, or approximately an extra two-minute's walk, said Neil Kittredge of Byer Blinder Belle, the consultancy firm advising the University on the project.
"The Dinky station is very important to the health, welfare and ability of this community to travel to any other part of the world," Reed said.
Though the Dinky will be relocated southward, "we hope to significantly improve the amenities for those who use the Dinky station," Durkee said. To this effect, the University plans to complement the station with retail space.
Additionally, the University is considering including a newsstand and coffee shop as well as relocating the Wawa market closer to the station itself for the convenience of commuters, saving them from "making a 100-yard dash simply to get coffee and pastries," as Princeton Borough Councilman Andrew Koontz said. Currently, he said, "The Wawa is an inconvenient convenience store."
Community members criticized the relocated Dinky, however. "The Dinky is not just a one-car train," Koontz said. "It is a community facility, not a University facility."
While both University and community members use the facility, University-affiliated commuters comprise around 40 percent of its users, according to a study undertaken by the University and New Jersey Transit in light of the proposed changes.
Though its population comprises under half of the Dinky users, the University provides a significant amount of support for the "community facility."
"I don't feel a need to be defensive about the University's commitment to the Dinky," Durkee said in his interview with the 'Prince.' "Historically, the Dinky was largely used to bring people, often alumni, to the University."
It is also unlikely that the Dinky would still be running today without the University's continuing support, Durkee said. In the 1980s, when New Jersey Transit planned to cease operation of the Dinky train, the University purchased both Dinky stations for almost $900,000, he added. Since that time, the University has subsidized Dinky operations, committed to maintenance and supported the commuter parking lot, at a cost of over $1.5 million.
"The Dinky was not self-supporting and still isn't," Durkee said.
Traffic flow
The University's plan to realign the intersection of University Place and Alexander Street will create a roundabout similar to the one currently located on Faculty Road. The design plan aims to "separate where the pedestrian access occurs from where cars are turning" onto University Place, said Kittredge, explaining that the current crossing between Forbes College and the Wawa creates a bottleneck of cars on Alexander Street.
"I don't want to drive up Alexander Road from Route 1 and feel like I'm coming into Princeton University," Pierna Thayer, 50-year Princeton resident, said at the work session. "I want to feel that I'm coming into Princeton the community. That road belongs to Princeton the community, not Princeton University."
In addition to redesigning the intersection, the University is planning to revamp its campus shuttle system, as well as investigate the possibility of Bus Rapid Transit to supplement the Dinky train.
Durkee addressed traffic circulation issues in his presentation to the planning board, citing the University's intention to increase parking facilities, as well as to move administrative offices away from the main campus, thus decreasing staff demand for parking.
He also explained that the University has "tried hard to reduce student car ownership," pointing out that 55 percent of students are on financial aid, "so fewer students are arriving to campus with cars."
Nassau Street
The subcommittee fears the economic impact of the University on the viability of Nassau Street businesses and restaurants.
As part of its longer-term goals, the University is considering moving some of its administrative offices from Nassau Street and remains committed to "preserving the commercial vitality of the downtown," Durkee told the subcommittee.
He outlined the University's "selective investments" on Nassau Street, including but not limited to running the Garden Theatre and stepping in to provide a bookstore when "Micawber decided to retire."
Nevertheless, for residents such as Thayer, who view "Nassau Street [as] Princeton Borough's lifeblood," the numerous on-campus stores and services continue to drain potential business from Nassau Street.
"There was a time when Princeton students relied on Borough merchants," Thayer said. "Over time, Princeton University began to provide everything a student might need, leaving little need for students to cross Nassau Street."
"The University shouldn't encroach on the retail hub of the town," Reed agreed.
Lake Carnegie and beyond
While the University maintains its commitment to a more compact and pedestrian-friendly campus, it "has expressed interest in locating facilities on the other side of Lake Carnegie," Reed said, questioning the sincerity of the University's dedication to limiting its expansion.
Durkee said in an interview with the 'Prince' that the Borough "Master Plan [incorrectly] assumes that we will begin to plan a campus on the other side of Lake Carnegie" and affirmed publicly that the University in fact has no such plans at this time.
A possible cross-Lake Carnegie expansion aside, community members said they find the general growth of the University particularly worrisome, especially as it concerns the affordability and availability of nearby housing.
"We hear from the University each time that this new building will not involve any more students or any more faculty," Reed said. "We have inevitably found that though they may not involve new students, new buildings create new activity and new auxiliary personnel, which does create a demand for housing."
While Durkee reiterated the University's already public plan to grow its undergraduate population from 4,700 to 5,100 by 2013, he explained to the subcommittee that once a cap is set, it "[tends] to stay at a given size for a very long time."
Furthermore, the University is planning to expand its faculty and graduate student housing on the outskirts of campus and will continue providing shuttle service to main campus.
"You can literally count on two hands the number of students who don't live on campus," Durkee said in an interview, arguing that students' drain on available Borough housing is negligible.
The University must expand its faculty and staff to react to the development of new fields of study and new technologies, Durkee said, citing ORFE and African-American studies as recent examples.
Nevertheless, he said, "We are a small university. We intend to remain a small university."
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