Council votes to consider University zoning

The Borough Council voted on Tuesday evening to introduce a zoning ordinance for the University’s proposed Arts and Transit Neighborhood for official review and consideration. After a period of at least 35 days, allowing a review by the Princeton Regional Planning Board, the Council will hold a final vote on the ordinance.

The University’s proposed plan to construct additional rehearsal and performance spaces in the Alexander corridor involves moving the University-owned Dinky station 460 feet south. For the past few months, Council members and residents have expressed concern over the station’s being moved further from Nassau Street.

The Council members moved to introduce the ordinance despite reservations over the plan. They also identified several items for additional discussion, including further adjustment of building codes and a more detailed examination of the uses intended for the proposed buildings.

Councilman Roger Martindell, referring to comments made by President Shirley Tilghman at a Jan. 31 Council meeting, said that the project should go forward because the University had threatened to “pull the plug on the project and go somewhere else” and that it “might also not pay the [payment in lieu of taxes] on the same basis that it has in the past.”

The annual PILOT agreement, a voluntary payment made by the University to the Borough’s operating budget, is set to expire this year. Martindell said that the Borough needed to “keep a dialogue with the University” because of the “financial reality” of its budget.

In response to Council inquiries, University Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee ’69 said that the University would not consider modifying its building plans to avoid moving the Dinky.

“You’re making the decision, though,” Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller said in response to Durkee’s statement about the University’s intent to move the station. “If we asked you to keep the station where it is and incorporate that into the zoning, you could still build your arts complex.”

Crumiller proposed adding to the ordinance a stipulation that the University may not move the station from its existing location.

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“If this project is going to go forward, it’s going to go forward with the station in its proposed new location,” Durkee said, adding that he didn’t believe the zoning ordinance could be written to dictate the location of the station.

At the opening of the meeting, Anita Garoniak, the founder of the citizens’ group Save the Dinky, urged the Council to postpone its vote until the Council’s negotiations with the University are made public.

She said that moving the Dinky further from the center of town would make transit less convenient for residents.

“It’s certainly not trivial to people who live on the edge of the walkable distance. If the Dinky is moved at all, it should be moved closer to Nassau Street,” Garoniak said. “The University proposal will make the Dinky less convenient, and no public relations talk about artwork and coffee can sugarcoat it.

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Garoniak urged the Council to postpone its vote on the introduction of the ordinance until the report of the Borough’s negotiations with the University is made public.

Borough resident Peter Green said he estimated that the proposed move of the Dinky would cost Borough taxpayers $9.2 million in the value of the land occupied by the station and in calculations of the opportunity cost of the additional time residents would spend walking to Dinky station.

“The deal is not really about ‘arts, education and transit.’ It’s probably going to be ‘arts, education and taking away some transit.’ But that’s the way they named it because they understand that, politically, they need to get this through,” Borough resident Andrew Erlichson said.

Despite the concerns, some residents expressed support for the University’s proposal, including the relocated station.

“This project, in a recession, is critical,” Mimi Omiecinski said. She added that she supported the proposed Arts and Transit Neighborhood as a way to increase tourism and said that the project may bring another stream of revenue into the community.

As a result of the past few months’ negotiations between University officials and Borough staff, the University’s proposal has been modified to make the new proposed zone smaller, limit its uses and revise bulk standards on construction.

The University’s proposed Arts, Education and Transit zone has been reduced to 2.4 acres from its originally proposed size of 6.4 acres. The revised proposal preserves more of the existing zoning around the new zone without prohibiting any of the University’s proposed construction.

The revised proposal also limits the zoning of the proposed construction to retail, educational and transportational uses. At the Borough’s suggestion, the University agreed to eliminate other uses enumerated in the original proposal, including dormitory and University retail uses.