Despite the University’s recent abandonment of the Arts and Transit Neighborhood, local officials are looking to continue discussions about the project. A recent proposal by Princeton Township Mayor Chad Goerner would bring representatives from the Borough and the Township together with University administrators for a series of meetings aimed at finding a solution to the current disagreements over the construction plans.
Under the proposal, which has already been approved by the Township Committee and is set to be voted on by the Borough Council at tonight’s meeting, talks on the proposed neighborhood would recommence immediately under the guidance of a joint subcommittee.
The subcommittee would consist of Township councilmen and staff members, two Borough Council representatives and University representatives, including Vice President Bob Durkee ’69 and Kristin Appelget, the director of community and regional affairs, Goerner explained.
“The township felt, regardless of the outcome, all three parties needed to come together and collaborate over a finite time frame in order to bring this [project] to a close,” Goerner said.
The committee would meet frequently over a period of 60 days and, at the end of the 60-day period, “come forth with a group of solutions and present them to the public [in order to] gather necessary input to move forward,” he noted, adding that, even if the project were not brought to fruition, talks would at least come to a collaborative and definitive close.
After the University’s initial announcement last month that it was abandoning the planned neighborhood, local and University officials traded blame about who was responsible for its demise. While members of the community said that the University was being too uncompromising about relocating the Dinky station, University officials noted that the community was ignoring the benefits that would come from construction.
“We need to make sure that any proposal that moves forward doesn’t just benefit the University but also benefits Princeton Borough and the Township,” Goerner explained. He noted, however, that by focusing on the primary divisive issue the three parties might come to a compromise.
“We have narrowed down the area of concern: community-based transportation,” he said. Sixty days, the time allotted for discussions should the proposal pass tonight, is “just enough time to work through logistical issues we may have in regards to transit, but at the same time, not too long, so we could move forward one way or another.”
Though the local community is looking to move forward, Durkee said in an e-mail that the University’s sentiments toward the Township and the Borough remained resentful.
“We were very disappointed that, after years of discussion, the governing bodies were not willing to proceed with zoning decisions,” he said. “We are not willing to develop the site without relocating the terminus of the Dinky.”
Durkee said that the University has already taken into account the community’s concerns, noting that it “made a number of changes in the plan in response to community feedback” and that “the [current] plan is responsive to and consistent with the community’s master plan.”
However, Goerner explained, the University has to be willing to compromise if it hopes to win approval to continue with the project. Primarily, he explained, it must be willing to recognize the public’s concern over the proposed relocation of the Dinky.
“The University has listened to some public input, but it will need to find some common ground with the community if we are to reach some conclusion,” he said. “Everyone needs to compromise.”
If a compromise should prove impossible, “the committee would need to disband,” Goerner added. “It’s unclear how we would proceed if we don’t have [a] joint governing body.”
The University, however, is looking toward the possible subcommittee with the hopes of focusing on zoning changes that need to be made to the proposal, allowing it to have “a clear direction on zoning this spring” and a compromise is unlikely, Durkee explained.
“The University continues to believe that the best outcome for the community as well as for the University would be to be able to go ahead with the proposed Arts and Transit [Neighborhood] project that we have been working on for the past four years,” he said. “The best way to … enhance the Dinky is to proceed with the project as we have proposed it.”
Either way, Durkee added, the project is at a stage where a definitive decision is needed.
“We are at a point where we need to be able to move forward soon, either in the originally proposed location or in a different location,” he said.
In the meantime, he noted, the University plans to examine alternative sites for its new arts building.
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