U.S. District Court Judge Freda L. Wolfson has denied the Princeton Battlefield Society’s (PBS) motion for a preliminary injunction to halt faculty housing construction by the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) on a seven-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Battlefield.

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In a decision issued following a hearing in District Court in Trenton last Wednesday, Judge Wolfson stated that the PBS had not established its case under the Clean Water Act.

The Institute plans to continue with its building project, while the Battlefield Society, in alliance with the Save Princeton Coalition of conservation and historic preservation organizations, will continue its efforts to stop the IAS construction.

“We are very pleased with Judge Wolfson’s decision to deny the request for a preliminary injunction filed by the Princeton Battlefield Society as part of their Clean Water Act suit,” the Institute announced in a statement to the press. “This ruling, like all the others that have preceded it in the New Jersey court system, confirms the fully compliant nature of the Institute’s application and allows the project to proceed as planned.”

PBS president Jerry Hurwitz affirmed the organization’s determination to pursue its case against the Institute project on both environmental and historical grounds. “This is only the opening skirmish in the war, only a temporary setback,” he said. “We have a lot more arrows in our quiver. The case is in its initial stages. We will be expanding on our claims against the Institute. There is more than one statute involved.”

Noting that the Clean Water Act is a narrow statute, Mr. Hurwitz stated that the Battlefield Society would be providing additional information for the court and addressing the issue of wetlands in further detail. “We’re disappointed, but not completely surprised,” he said. “We are confident that we will succeed in the end.”

The Institute for Advanced Study recently expanded its website in making its case as “a responsible member of the Princeton community” for continuing construction of its faculty housing project.

Contending that the development plans are “aligned with the preservation goals of the community,” the Institute noted that it has “donated, preserved, and protected just over 625 acres of historically significant land in Princeton: donating 32 acres to the Battlefield Park in 1973; preserving 589 acres in 1997 by relinquishing development rights on the land,” and “protecting 14 acres of IAS property adjacent to the park (including a 200-foot buffer), which will be conserved in perpetuity, and at no cost to the public.”