Pause Approval Of Draft Master Plan, Petition Urges Princeton Planning Board

PRINCETON, NJ – A group of Princeton residents have started a petition urging the Municipality’s Planning Board to pause the approval of the proposed draft Master Plan.

The petition was started by the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development (PCRD), a group of residents advocating for responsible urban planning in Princeton.

The Planning Board unveiled the draft Master Plan in October and held a public meeting on Nov. 9. The meeting went on for around hours and saw around 165 residents in attendance over Zoom.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, where the public hearing will continue. If corrections need to be made they will be made ahead of the meeting.

According to the PCRD, the upzoning measures mentioned in the draft Master Plan could have detrimental consequences for the Municipality.

“This proposed plan could have serious unintended consequences due to proposed changes to the land use plans. It appears that there has been a failure to take into account the impact on our environment, existing infrastructure, schools, property taxes, traffic and parking conditions and even our mature trees,” the group said in the petition.

Princeton is known for its beautiful green spaces and historic charm and the current up-zoning proposal threatens these characteristics that attract residents and visitors to Princeton, according to the PCRD.

“Our schools already are at capacity, with little room for sudden influxes of students from the already planned inclusionary development of large multi-family apartments. These will do little to address the actual pressing affordable housing needs,” the group said. According to them, increasing density as proposed in the Master Plan will do “nothing for affordable housing.”

With traffic congestion already an issue in many parts of town; more development without proper planning will only exacerbate this problem, the group said.

“Moreover, property taxes in New Jersey are among the highest in the nation; any increase in taxes due to unplanned development would be a burden too heavy for many residents. The preservation of mature trees is not just about maintaining aesthetics but also about ensuring environmental sustainability,” Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development said in the petition.

As of Monday, 631 residents have signed the petition.

“We urge the Planning Board to pause this process immediately until these issues can be adequately addressed with public input included every step of the way. We believe that community involvement is crucial when making decisions that will affect us all so profoundly,” the group urged in the petition.

Based on this week’s Municipality agenda, the Planning Board meeting is going ahead as scheduled with officials seeking a resolution on the Draft Master Plan.

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