Planning Board to Vote on Authorizing Agreement with AvalonBay Tomorrow Night

medical centerThe Princeton Planning Board is slated to go in to closed session tomorrow night to discuss AvalonBay and then vote on authorizing a consent agreement regarding the process and schedule for reviewing the developer’s new site plan for the Witherspoon Street hospital property. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the main meeting room at the municipal building at 400 Witherspoon Street.

The Princeton Council discussed the consent agreement in closed session Monday night. A consent order or consent agreement is a document stating that one party will stop contested actions in order to resolve a lawsuit.  It provides information about an agreement mutually reached by the people involved in a legal case. A consent order allows people to settle a case without having to wait for a court judgment. It is legally binding, just like a judgment issued at the end of a trial.

AvalonBay is still proposing to build 280 units at the 5.6 acre site, including 56 affordable units. But the company has redesigned its plans for the site to include two buildings and some townhouses. The buildings would be taller along Witherspoon Street and lower in height in other areas. An open park is proposed at the corner of Witherspoon Street and Franklin Avenue as part of thenew  plan. Previously, open space was proposed for the center courtyard of the development. The size of the proposed private pool has also been reduced.

AvalonBay will be required to submit the revised site plans to the Princeton Planning Board for review and approval.

In February, AvalonBay filed a lawsuit in Mercer County Superior Court against the town of Princeton and the Princeton Planning Board for denying its application. The Princeton Council approved $50,000 for the litigation fund at the Council’s meeting Monday night.

Several officials and a group of residents opposed the original plan, arguing the scale of the proposed project did not fit with the surrounding neighborhood. Residents also raised concerns about environmental issues and open space designs. Many of the residents wanted to see a reduction in the number of apartment units to be built at the site. A task force recommended reducing the density, but then some Council members and the Mayor said the number of units should be kept the same.

One Comment

  1. This is great but I just don’t understand why they feel it is necessary to do it in closed session. Our agencies of government should be as transparent as possible. It seems like more business happens in closed session than in the open, even though these are important issues that deserve public scrutiny.

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