Why did the salamander cross the road? The Princeton town council meeting on Monday addressed the Salamander Brigade of Princeton, a group that Dr. Inge Regan started three years ago to protect spotted salamanders, an amphibious species native to Princeton.
The meeting also included a long debate over where to host the 2025 Outdoor Art Market, discussion of reduced speed limits, and welcomed Dawn M. Mount as the new municipality Council Clerk.
Spotted salamanders are a keystone species for Princeton, two Princeton High School students explained, and are the only vertebrate animal that can photosynthesize. The group previously received approval to close Herrontown Road for five to six nights between the end of February and the beginning of April in order to study and protect the spotted salamanders as they crossed the road. When the road was closed, the group observed no dead salamanders.
Princeton Professor of Neuroscience Lisa Boulanger explained to the council that spotted salamanders cross Herrontown Road to reach the vernal pools where they were born on the other side, which are safe environments and breeding grounds for the salamanders.
“If the road is closed, then we collect data, so we have information about the different species [of salamander] that are there. We take counts, and we learn how large is this population, how much is it changing over time,” Boulanger explained. This data goes to the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife, she added.
The group has saved many salamanders. In addition to this assistance to Princeton ecosystems, one student remarked that the brigade also “brings together people of all ages into a cause where they’re purely united just by their love for nature.”
Meanwhile, cars in town might be zooming slightly slower soon. At the meeting, the town council also discussed speed limits on Mt. Lucas Road, Route 206 (State Road, which peels off Bayard Lane a few blocks North of campus), and Cherry Hill Road. According to a memo sent to Mayor Mark Freda on March 1, the speed limit for Cherry Hill Road will be reduced from 40 mph. to 35 mph. In the final ordinance, this 35 mph speed limit will be applied to Mt. Lucas Road and Route 206. This 35 mph speed limit will also be considered for a number of roads in the future.
“We will make Princeton ... safer for walkers, for bicyclists and even for drivers of cars. So stand by, this is just the beginning,” Leighton Newlin, a town councilmember, said. He also mentioned that Vision Zero, a program many cities have implemented aimed at making roads safer for pedestrians, is coming to Princeton.
The council also appointed Dawn M. Mount as Council Clerk in a unanimous vote, which Mayor Mark Freda highlighted as one of the “high points” of the meeting. Mount is currently the Deputy County Clerk and will replace Rayna Harris as Council Clerk.
“This is a difficult year for the country, but there is one bright spot for Princeton, which is having you as our clerk,” Council President Mia Sacks said.
Mount, who was accompanied by her husband and three children, expressed her gratitude. "It’s an honor and a privilege to serve you guys in this new role and to serve the residents of the town, as well.”
The council also discussed the Outdoor Art Market, which the council approved to take place on Saturday, May 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
According to councilmember Michelle Pirone Lambros, traffic was a large concern with the event last year. Councilmember David Cohen proposed that Witherspoon Street be used. “We spent a lot of money to upgrade Witherspoon Street with the express intention, actually, of closing the top block of Witherspoon from Spring Street to Nassau Street for events like this,” Cohen said.
“To have the fair on that block would do so much more for the adjacent businesses than having it on Paul Robeson, which has no adjacent businesses,” Cohen continued.
Adam Welch, Executive Director of the Arts Council Princeton, argued that the use of Witherspoon Street threatens the livelihood of business owners on the street.
“The businesses were so negatively impacted by the street fairs because it closed access to their businesses,” Welch explained. He cited Jessica Durrie, owner of Small World Coffee, who told him that she saw lines down the street just for people to use the bathroom and not to make purchases.
Freda responded by saying, “We’re not going to decide this tonight, so I really don’t want to get into the debate about whether to use Witherspoon Street. Not tonight. That’s going to be an ongoing debate after this meeting.”
“Experience Princeton is not running the town, the council is,” Sacks told Welch. Experience Princeton is a nonprofit formed in 2022 and funded through fees on businesses. “I think that the council as a whole made the decision to move forward with spending a lot of money on Witherspoon Street so that we would have more space, not just for music, but also for things like street fairs.”
“This is the first time hearing that actually there is some tension there,” Sacks continued, referencing the business owners’ unhappiness.
In a statement to the ‘Prince’ after the meeting, Marketing and PR Associate for the Arts Council Fiona Clark wrote “we are moving forward with Robeson as the location and have all appropriate approvals to do so.”
Details of the vendors who will be at the Art Market are available through the Arts Council of Princeton website.
Luke Grippo is a senior News writer and Features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from South Jersey and usually covers administrative issues, including Undergraduate Student Government, the Council of the Princeton University Community, and institutional legacy.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Editor's note: this article has been updated to include comment from Fiona Clark.
Correction: a previous version of this piece said that applications to be a vendor at the Art Market were open. They are not, but the vendors that will be there are available online. The ‘Prince’ regrets this error.
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