Snowden/Van Dyke Subdivision Plan Tabled at Planning Board Review

Matthew Hersh

The Regional Planning Board of Princeton once again had to table a plan to build a seven-home subdivision on a wooded property at Snowden Lane and Van Dyke Road. The hearing was cut short due to the late hour.

The 15-acre property has been at the center of a debate between residents and the developer, Township resident Joel Schwartz. Residents worry that traffic conditions will worsen at the intersection, near Herrontown Road, and that an increase in impervious surfaces in the area could lead to an increased risk of flooding.

The plot, which also contains wetland areas at points northeast and southeast, lies near the unnamed north tributary of Harry's Brook‹a stream that has seen an increase in flooding over the past years.

Last Wednesday, at a site walk of the Princeton Township Shade Tree Commission, Township Arborist Greg O'Neil said that approximately 500 trees would be removed if the project were approved. That number, however, could change as the applicant works on the subdivision's site design.

Mr. O'Neil added that there would also need to be some moderate blasting as that area is supported by bedrock.

At the application's initial hearing in May residents not only worried about the development, with houses between 4,000 and 8,000 square feet, but that the property was incorrectly analyzed based on a five-year-old Freshwater Wetlands Letter of Interpretation (LOI) by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that had been obtained by the current property owner, Myerson Associates.

The proposal is expected to return to the Planning Board sometime in September.