The New Jersey Assembly is currently considering Assembly Bill No. 2586 and Senate Bill No. 1534 (A-2586 & S-1534) already passed in the Senate, that would exempt private universities and colleges from the requirement of gaining approval from municipal planning and zoning boards when they seek to develop their land. A past court decision exempts public colleges and universities from the need to secure these approvals because they are seen as serving a critical public mission.
The fractured logic behind this legislation is that private institutions should be treated as public institutions because they also “contribute substantially to that important public mission.” But the primary danger in extending this exemption is that private colleges and universities are also private developers.
In Plainsboro, Princeton University owns approximately 685 acres of land, about half of which could still be developed. These undeveloped parcels encompass about 62 percent of all the land that can be developed in Plainsboro Township. That means that just under two-thirds of all the undeveloped land in Plainsboro would be exempt from the open and sensible public planning process that residents have come to rely upon as the community has grown over the years.
A portion of this land has been developed in direct support of education activities, but the vast majority has been developed for profit to the financial benefit of the university. Some of these lands include the Princeton Forrestal Center and the Princeton Forrestal Village. To date, the university has developed approximately 161 acres. This development has been a success (and an asset to Plainsboro) largely because the local planning process has insured that the land was developed consistent with the township’s carefully considered master plan. Through the local planning process, impacts were gauged and mitigated and the public has had a voice in the process. A-2586 & S-1534 would take this away.
Should this legislation become law, the remaining university-owned land that is not yet developed would not be subject to local planning. This represents approximately 62 percent of all the land in Plainsboro that is still available for development and we would have no voice!
Would the university develop the tax revenue generating office research projects (at appropriate densities) that are currently planned; or will institutional needs trump the public interest with Plainsboro becoming the home of oversized office and housing developments? Will the impacts on traffic, the environment and the schools be considered? Will we be certain that tax revenues will be raised to pay for the added demands for services? Will our citizens have a voice in the future of their community? Sadly, the answer is no.
I urge the Assembly to exercise the good judgment that escaped the Senate and reject this legislation. Plainsboro Township is proof positive that the responsible administration of land use authority, that includes the participation of our citizens, can work.
Peter A. Cantu
Mayor, Plainsboro Township
