To the Editor:

On behalf of the board of directors of Experience Princeton, I am pleased to submit the following findings of our Economic Development Team:

Experience Princeton supports the Master Plan presented by the Master Plan Committee to the Planning Board last Thursday. We are pleased to see that many of the general themes that our teams have included in their work plans for the coming year are also a part of the various components recommended in the report. We look forward to working with the municipal staff and any future committee charged with implementing the various aspects of the Master Plan to bring about positive changes which will encourage innovation, experiential retail, expanded outdoor dining, affordable housing for the employees of local businesses, new parking opportunities including the utilization of underused lots and preservation of the unique character of Princeton.

We would like to note that on page 24 of the plan, recommendations No. 69 and No. 70 encourage economic development goals of expanding Princeton’s role as a regional destination. We would ask for the prioritization of more specific initiatives. There is a need for the infrastructure to accommodate workforce housing, reasonable traffic grids which facilitate smooth in and out automobile movement, wayfinding, and informational signage.

Additionally, sufficient parking is of paramount importance for the survival of current businesses downtown and for attracting new merchants. The stated principal in the Master Plan to “avoid [the] the necessity of adding new parking capacity” reflects laudable sustainability concerns but is not realistic and needs to be amended. Current capacity does not meet current need, and given the plan’s ambitions for growth, current capacity will certainly not meet future need. Merchants rely on visitors from all over Mercer County and the region, for whom biking, ride sharing, and public transportation are not and will not be adequate options. However, all these concerns, both sustainability and parking capacity objectives, can be met in the form of structured parking. The latter are part of the bigger mobility picture, but providing additional parking capacity is urgent, crucial, and unavoidable.

We want to thank everyone who contributed to the creation of this very detailed Master Plan and again stress that we look forward to working with the Planning Board, Historic Preservation Committee, Zoning, Council, and all municipal staff to achieve positive results for all the Princeton community.

Aubrey Haines
President, Experience Princeton
Nassau Street