To the Editor:

If passed, Bill A2586 would exempt private universities and colleges from complying with zoning. This would be a nightmare for Princeton, Plainsboro, West Windsor, and Lawrence, as well as other municipalities with large private university campuses. And, if A2586 is passed, the exemptions likely will not stop there — private secondary schools, hospitals, daycare centers, and a myriad of others with “public missions” can be counted on to demand their exemptions quickly.

This has nothing to do with the respect or affection we may have for these private institutions, but let’s face it — private universities, such as Princeton University, or even Rider University or the Princeton Seminary, are, relative to the surrounding town, mammoth financial institutions with an appetite for development. Zoning exists to protect individual residents and a town’s quality of life, and without it we open our communities to rampant and unconstrained development — not just from large educational buildings, but from ANY type of commercial building that a university might conceive to be a good investment. A2586 allows for local zoning and local master plans to be ignored with total impunity.

Towns with private universities already face tax revenue shortfalls due to the existence of large amounts of tax exempt properties. Private institutions generally make a voluntary payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT). However, the record is that PILOTS are almost never close to the level that a regular taxpayer would have been required to pay. So, if private universities are permitted to expand without zoning review into prime real estate, tax revenues to the municipality may sustain dramatic decreases, requiring major tax increases to other taxpayers, and cuts in services.

The supposed “justification” for A2586 is that state universities “already” are exempt from local land use regulations. Not true. State universities are subject to regulation and oversight through the State budgetary process, which inevitably includes land use considerations. There is no such transparency and public control over the budgets and capital improvements of private universities. The idea that private universities need to have equalized standing is a complete fabrication.

Due to confusion around passing the State budget, the bill quickly passed the Senate and is now in the Assembly Higher Education Committee, chaired by Assemblywoman Celeste Riley. For more information please go to the League of Municipalities website www.njslom.org/letters/2012-0829-A2586-S1534.html. Please send letters to Committee members via e-mail (followed by hard copy by U.S. Mail) expressing your opposition to this bill. The next meeting of the Committee is on November 8. We don’t have the agenda yet, but A2586 could be on that agenda. If you are interested in being informed about when the hearing is scheduled, e-mail to kcherry10@gmail.com or call (609) 924-4232.

Kip Cherry

Dempsey Avenue