Battlefield Society files suit to block IAS construction

The complaint was filed on Thursday in Superior Court in Trenton by PBAPS attorney Bruce Afran. It challenges the Institute’s right to build on the parcel, citing a 1992 settlement between the Institute and Princeton Township that, according to the Society’s interpretation, prevents the Institute from building on the land.

The society has long opposed the Institute’s housing plans, arguing that the battlefield is an important site of Revolutionary War heritage.

Battlefield State Park is the site of the 1777 Battle of Princeton, and some experts contend the Institute’s parcel was the site of General George Washington’s crucial counterattack against the British.

The Princeton Regional Planning Board approved the Institute’s project by a unanimous vote in March. PBAPS plans to separately appeal that decision, according to a press release issued by the society.

“We don’t believe any of the claims have any merit whatsoever,” Institute spokeswoman Christine Ferrara said in an interview. “We’re fairly confident that, backed by the unanimous support of the Board, we’ll be able to move forward.”

Ferrara said the first phase of the Institute’s construction plans will start over the summer “as long as everything goes according to plan.”

Under the current project plan, the Institute’s housing units will be part of a residential cluster zone in an E-2 zoning district. Cluster zoning allows the Institute’s housing units to take up less space, John Masten, the associate director of finances and administration for the Institute, said in an interview in November.

“This was done specifically in response to concerns about the historical significance of the area,” Masten said. “Cluster zoning actually lets us preserve more land.”

The PBAPS suit challenges the Institute’s right to cluster zoning on the parcel. The suit charges that the 1992 settlement was made before the Township began to allow cluster zoning and that the Institute is therefore bound by the zoning codes of 1992. Cluster housing was not approved in E-2 zones until 2002.

“The purpose of the 1992 agreement was to permit residential development in a manner that would protect the battlefield site, not destroy it with a housing subdivision,” Afran said in a PBAPS press release.

Against a tide of rising real estate prices in the area, the Institute has been working for decades to construct affordable housing close to campus for its faculty.

Battlefield State Park was established in 1946, partially on lands rented to the state from the Institute, outgoing Director Peter Goddard said in an interview in November.

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In 1973, the Institute sold 32 acres of land to the state, increasing the size of the park by 60 percent. Goddard said the sale was made as “a promise by the state to the Institute.”

Under this promise, the Institute would be able to build faculty housing on the Institute-owned parcel of land to the east of the park.

“The Institute has always tried to look after its own needs and objectives while respecting history and conserving and protecting lands for public use,” Goddard said.

“Many people run or bicycle in the Institute Woods, which the Institute had an important role in creating.”