Community criticizes U. plan for new art complex

The University’s plan to build a new complex of arts buildings came under fire at a meeting of the Regional Planning Board of Princeton on Thursday evening as opponents of the plan spent two hours under oath criticizing the University’s plan to move the Dinky station.

The planned complex, known as the Arts and Transit Neighborhood, would consist of rehearsal and performance facilities in the Alexander corridor near Forbes College. The plan has roiled the local community over the past few years because the University plans to move the Dinky station 460 feet further south as part of its construction.

Local residents opposed to the arts and transit construction plan testified as witnesses in a presentation led by attorney Bruce Afran. Afran was granted two hours to present his clients’ opposition to the project, which argues that the move of the Dinky terminus is unnecessary and that the plans for pedestrian crossing in the neighborhood are unsafe.

But regardless of the wisdom of the plan, planning board member Peter Madison said it was not within his right to pass judgment on it.

“We have before us an application which is in full compliance with the current zoning,” Madison said. “If it does, I don’t see that I have an alternative of turning this application down.”

Afran disagreed, saying the planning board had the legal power to deny the site plan on the grounds of public safety. “You have a very wide discretion that is very difficult to challenge,” Afran said.

Opponents alleged that the University does not have the legal right to move the terminus of the Dinky rail line. One legal expert testified that the easement allowing public transportation access over the University’s land does not allow for the planned move of the station.

The University purchased the Dinky station from New Jersey Transit in 1984 and moved the station 100 feet south to its current location. Operations research and financial engineering professor Alain Kornhauser GS ’71 testified that the 1984 purchase agreement allowed only the move contemplated at that time and does not allow the University to move the station a second time.

“It is my belief that the arts campus can be built without moving the Dinky,” Kornhauser, director of the University’s Transportation Program, explained.

Architects who worked on the site’s design testified that the decision to move Dinky station had been made by the University administration before they were hired. They also testified that the Arts and Transit Neighborhood had been designed to be accessible to the non-University community.

Afran represents the plaintiffs of a pending lawsuit challenging the legality of the zoning ordinances that grant the University the right to build its proposed arts neighborhood. If the plaintiffs win the lawsuit, the zoning ordinances will be overturned, revoking the University’s legal ability to build its proposed set of arts buildings on the area in question.

Consideration of the arts and transit proposal will continue at a planning board meeting scheduled for Dec. 18, which will end with a vote by the planning board on whether to approve the site plan. Thursday evening’s meeting was scheduled as a continuation of the meeting that was held on Oct. 18, where representatives of the University presented the plans for the site.

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Correction: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this article misstated the date of the December planning board meeting. It will be on Dec. 18. The 'Prince' regrets the error.