##M:[more]##I would like to challenge the claim in a recent letter that “there are many residents who are “afraid of change” and who “prefer a status-quo” in West Windsor Township. I think it is quite the contrary; over the last few years our citizens have been actively seeking change, rejecting the “status quo” of dangerous road conditions and a distressed streetscape on Route 571 in downtown Princeton Junction.
The substantive debate now in shaping the plan for the 350-acre redevelopment area surrounding the Princeton Junction train station is how big it should be and how much it will cost. Each of the four plans presented to date by Hillier Architecture call for 1,”000 new housing units. I think people would like to see this number change, and instead see a lower quantity proposed in the plan.
The redevelopment plan, as promised by Mayor Hsueh, will be designed based on what we as a community decide are our preferences and priorities.
How can we come to agreement on a plan, however, that is the best fit for all township residents if we are questioned for asking questions, or if we have to defend the need to pay attention to details about cost, impacts to our natural and human environment, and the scale and size? Creating false “straw man” divisions and using language to frame a debate on “for and against” change by suggesting that people are overcome by fear instead of reason is just noise to tune out to really listening to the public and discredits reasonable concerns.
In order to make sound decisions in this planning process, especially within a framework of such a complex set components as presented in this enormous redevelopment initiative, we must learn the facts, evaluate information through an independent lens, share our concerns and opinions, and have the opportunity and time for asking questions and getting answers in a timely way; we can then best inform our elected officials and the planner we hired (and are paying for with our tax dollars) about what kind of change we want based on what we both desire and can afford, as promised.
Susan Conlon
98 Harris Road
