To the Editor:

The new Princeton Master Plan has been shared with the public (see princetonnj.gov).

The plan focuses on growth. In fact, it is a core statement in the 1996 plan that continues unchanged in this draft. The plan’s vision is that “Princeton will be a vibrant, growing, and welcoming community.” The very first assumption is that “Princeton will welcome new growth.”

The plan proposes increasing density in several single family residential areas to 2-8 units per acre and in some areas near the central district to 4-20 units per acre. The plan hopes that these changes will make us a better community with more opportunities for diversity in housing.

It is time to think about deleting “growth” as one of our goals. The growth that is envisioned in this new plan is not one that is good for the town. Neighborhoods closest to the center of town will be open to high density development. Traffic; pressure on our infrastructure and schools; increased demands on our police, fire, and social services; and the financial stress on our municipal government can all be anticipated. Growth is not a goal — it is a cost.

We all want diversity in housing, and we all agree that we need to find ways to encourage housing for the “missing middle,” but growth is not the only path. In fact, it might not succeed at all: the free market, not our desires, sets housing prices.

Let’s delete growth as a goal and a key assumption from the new plan. Let’s find other ways to become a better town. Let’s think about using currently vacant land or underutilized sites such as surface parking lots. Maybe we can expand our nonprofit ownership of affordable housing to avoid the costly (in terms of growth) builder’s remedy in use today. How can our zoning law encourage the type of housing we want without adding more population? Growth may be inevitable, but let’s view it as a cost, not a goal.

HARRY LEVINE
Newlin Road