Borough to vote on zoning for Arts and Transit Neighborhood

The Borough Council will take action on the zoning ordinance requested for the University’s Arts and Transit Neighborhood in the next few weeks and the final decision may be resolved by mid-June at the earliest, the Borough Council and Township Committee announced at a joint meeting on Wednesday evening.

The Borough Council will vote on May 3 on whether to introduce a zoning ordinance for review. If the ordinance is introduced, the Princeton Regional Planning Board will have a 35-day period to consider the ordinance and raise objections or request more information. After that 35-day period, the ordinance will return to the Council for a final, decisive vote.

The University’s final meeting with the Borough’s special task force on mass transit issues will be held next Thursday. The report of their negotiations will be released shortly, but no action will be taken on the issue until a 10-day period has passed.

At Wednesday’s joint meeting, local residents raised concerns over the public benefits of the Arts and Transit Neighborhood and over the University’s proposed plan, which involves moving the Dinky 460 feet south.

“I think that the whole arts center complex would be built by now if the University hadn’t insisted on moving the terminus of the Dinky,” operations research and financial engineering professor Alain Kornhauser GS ’71 said. “I think it’s really bad public policy to move the terminus of a transportation center farther away from the center of demand.” Kornhauser recommended inquiry into the University’s legal right to move the Dinky station.

“What really is the use of the arts campus going to be? Is it really going to be a public good, as has been implied?” David Cohen, treasurer of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, asked.

“I would like to see [the arts district] in the empty chemistry building adjacent to the current arts building. I think that would be a great use of that space ... rather than it being far away from the center of town,” said Peter Wolanin ’94, corresponding secretary of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization. “I see the proposed move as really detrimental to public transit. As an alumnus, I generally think the University’s behavior in this matter has been unfortunate.”

University Vice President Robert Durkee ’69, who attended the meeting, said that, if the municipalities were to refuse the zoning request, the University will build its arts district elsewhere. He said that the Dinky would be moved regardless of the decision when the University made other developments in the Alexander Corridor.

“The question that is not on the table is ‘Will the University expand for the arts?’ ” Durkee said. “We will; we can do that with the existing zoning. Another question that is not on the table is ‘Will we develop the Alexander Corridor?’ We can do that with the existing zoning. What we can’t do with the existing zoning is develop this area for the arts.”

“Whatever we do in that area is going to involve relocating the Dinky, whether we do the arts project there or whether we do development within existing zoning,” Durkee said after the meeting. “This discussion begins with recognizing that the Dinky is going to be moved.”

Durkee said that the University had already provided proof of its legal right to move the Dinky at the request of Council several weeks ago. Durkee said the University obtained a letter from New Jersey Transit that “very clearly confirms that yes, the University does have the right to make this move at our expense.”

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, both municipal governments voted unanimously to approve the Princeton Public Library’s requested budget of $3,777,033, which includes a $104,188 increase from last year’s allocation. Library Director Leslie Burger said that the money would go toward reducing the contribution that employees are required to make to their own healthcare benefits and that the increase was needed due to a rise in healthcare premiums and a decline in revenues.

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The governing bodies also approved a separate $100,000 to offset the free parking for library patrons in the Spring Street parking garage. Burger explained that, because the library had replaced its pay verification with an honor system one year ago, the volume of parking had increased significantly while garage revenues had declined. She added that the library is reinstating its validation procedure of stamping the tickets of parkers who visited the library.

The Borough Council and Township Committee voted unanimously to approve 2011 budgets for the fire department and for fire facilities. The department’s request of $239,736 is $38,114 greater than its 2010 allotment. Mark Freda, director of emergency services for the Princeton Fire Department, said that the increase was needed for equipment maintenance that had been postponed for several years.

Freda said the fire facilities’ budget of $120,800, representing a $26,982 increase from last year, is needed for postponed upkeep of the facilities.

The municipalities also discussed requests made regarding the joint capital budget. The Council and Committee approved $45,000 for facilities maintenance of the Princeton Senior Resource Center. The municipalities discussed requests for $290,000 for technological upgrades for the library and $546,825 for fire department equipment but postponed any decisions pending review by both municipal finance committees.