I agree with John Hinsdale’s recent letter in the News (April 25, 2017) in which he refutes the statement from an earlier letter titled “Howard Hughes Can Provide Needed Housing” (April 4, 2017) that West Windsor should be providing “needed housing” for the region.
West Windsor does not need to be the repository for regional housing at the township’s expense. The township is at capacity for its schools and roads and any additional housing for school-aged residents will most likely result in adding more schools or expansions and, thus, higher taxes for West Windsor residents.
The mayor should be on board with this thinking since he was first elected in 1993 on a managed growth program.
When I spoke with Howard Hughes’s representatives several years ago when they were soliciting community feedback, they said they would be seeking economic grants for the development and that the project would be a ratable for the township—not a tax burden.
We should hold Hughes to these statements as this development unfolds.
— Alan Di Sciullo, Princeton Junction
Di Sciullo was chairman of the West Windsor Planning Board from 1993 to 1997 and a director of the New Jersey Planning Officials from 1996 to 2013.