By Donald Gilpin

Eager to weigh in on the issues most important to the future of their town, about 250 Princeton residents and others circulated through Princeton Public Library’s Community Room between 4 and 7 p.m. on November 30 for the first public open session on the Princeton Master Plan.

The open house, hosted by the Princeton Planning Board, presented participants with four stations throughout the large room, one devoted to each of four key Princeton issues: housing, downtown, mobility, and open space and recreation.

Individuals were provided with information at each station and they were given the opportunity to respond in detail with ideas about how Princeton should address its biggest challenges. There were hundreds of conversations throughout the room during the more than three hours of the event, and visitors wrote out comments and questions, and noted their preferences on a series of maps at each station.

“A master plan is a community’s blueprint for its future,” stated the flier handed out by the meeting hosts. “A new master plan will enable Princeton to set policies and priorities that will guide its decisions over the coming years, from housing and business to mobility and climate change. It tries to answer such questions as: Where should new housing go? How can we reduce traffic to make traveling around town easier? What does the municipality need to thrive economically? What kinds of outdoor spaces does it need?”

The master plan project is guided by a steering committee of Princeton residents and business owners, appointed by the Princeton Planning Board and assisted by a team of planning, economic development, and public outreach consultants.

The planners are currently processing information collected at last Wednesday’s session, along with additional information from surveys conducted earlier this year and other public input. There will be more steering committee meetings, more technical meetings with staff, and other opportunities for public commentary in the coming months, including another community open house and another

community survey. The Planning Board hopes to have a draft plan prepared by late spring 2023, followed by public hearings, and a final plan by the summer.

“We’re about halfway there,” said Justin Lesko, municipal senior planner and now acting planning director. “It’s really important to get as much of that input as possible so we can come to a realistic goal, a thoughtful goal, a vision for the future.”

Lesko was pleased with the turnout at the open house, and also commented on the level of engagement and the quality of input. “We have some big questions in Princeton, about parking, housing, open space, and downtown issues,” he said. “We had a lot of very thoughtful comments.”

Eager to get even more locals involved in the coming months, Lesko stated, “I urge residents get involved, whether they come to every Council and Planning Board meeting or whether they’ve never been to any. Maybe they’re new to town or haven’t had an interest so far, but we certainly welcome everyone.”

Besides the legal requirements necessitating an update of the current Princeton Master Plan that was put in place in 1996, Lesko emphasized the need for revisions. “A lot has changed since then,” he said, “both in the planning world in the way we do things and also obviously in the larger world.”

He continued, “Whether it’s the pandemic or the housing market or specific things to Princeton like consolidation, it’s really time to re-evaluate everything, and for us to do that we need to engage all 31,000 people in Princeton. I can tell you something, but I live over here on Witherspoon Street, and I might not see what happens over by one of the schools at pick-up time.”

He added, “We really need everyone to show us: ‘Here’s what’s going on in my neck of the woods, in my part of this 18-square-mile town. Where I am here’s what’s happening. Here are my hopes and goals.’”

As planners and consultants and municipal officials continue listening and processing input from all segments of the town, Lesko sees the community moving towards certain areas of consensus.  It’s too early to report any definitive results of the public input so far, but Lesko mentioned some recurring motifs. 

“We always hear that Princeton needs more housing,” he said, “and people are becoming more open to modern ways of doing that. We’ve started seeing that people are preferring smaller lots for homes, smaller residences, duplexes and triplexes, and housing like that. People are saying there’s got to be something in between the general single-family housing and the big apartment buildings.”

Lesko also mentioned that he was eager to see the variety of ideas that people had for Princeton’s open space and for the downtown area.

Princeton Councilman Leighton Newlin noted, “I’m feeling very optimistic about the future of Princeton, especially under the current mayor and Council, and the care and concern with which elected officials and municipal staff are looking to advance equity in Princeton and to create more of a welcoming town. I think Princeton has a bright future ahead.”

Newlin praised Lesko, the town engineering department, and the planners for “coming out into the neighborhood and engaging people and asking people what they’d like to have.” He went on to point out that residents in all neighborhoods had responded in kind.

“Princeton is really blessed to have so many people volunteer on boards, commissions, and committees and take a great interest in the future of this town and how we elevate all citizens, because a high tide raises all boats and that’s what we’re going to accomplish,” Newlin added.