Chairs Explain Why Planning Board Meetings Will Not Be in Hybrid Format
To the Editor:
A recent letter writer called on Princeton’s elected leaders to require that the Planning Board return to in-person meetings with a Zoom option for attending remotely — basically, a hybrid format now used by the mayor and Council [“Princeton Planning Board Meetings Should Be Held in Hybrid Format,” Mailbox, May 15]. As officers of the board, we’d like to explain why this has not happened.
We respect the mayor and Council’s decision to “go hybrid,” and certainly appreciate the value of personal interaction in the democratic process — especially the connection between elected officials and constituents. But under state and local law, the Planning Board’s role and responsibilities are fundamentally different from Princeton’s elected governing body.
The Planning Board’s function is quasi-judicial. We operate within a structure laid out in the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL): hearing sworn testimony from staff, land owners and developers, expert witnesses and members of the public, applying and weighing positive criteria and negative criteria when considering variance or waiver requests, and advancing principles articulated in the Community Master Plan.
Of course the board did all this at in-person meetings prior to the pandemic. When forced to Zoom, however, we found that community interaction grew substantially. Many people who find it inconvenient, intimidating, or just impossible to attend in person are able to attend remotely and, importantly, see and hear presentations, detailed exhibits, and testimony just as board members see and hear them.
The hybrid model is not yet reliable enough; the May 13 Council meeting, for example, had to proceed without a Zoom link because of technical difficulties. Presentations and exhibits are more difficult for people online to see. Importantly, the individuals offering comments remotely are not visible to people in the meeting room, which presents a legal issue for the Planning Board. And according to the Planning Board’s legal counsel, if the board were to provide legal notice that the public may participate in person or remotely and then be inaccessible to remote attendees due to technical difficulties, the board would be vulnerable to litigation.
With substantial technical improvements that guarantee equity in the broadest sense — a truly level playing field — the Planning Board might one day transition to a hybrid meeting format provided it allows for every participant, in person or remote, to see and hear equally well, to be seen and be heard equally well, at every meeting.
For now, the board will continue to meet via Zoom. Most meetings are on the first or third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. Meeting links are available through the municipal calendar at princetonnj.gov/calendar. We welcome and encourage members of the public to join us.