Snowden Subdivision Revisited Amid Environmental Misgivings

Matthew Hersh

A proposal for a seven-home development off Snowden Lane will be heard again this Thursday by the Regional Planning Board of Princeton.

The plan to build on a 15-acre property near Snowden Lane and Van Dyke Road was initially heard in May, but was earmarked for an extension when the hearing was curtailed due to the late hour.

At that meeting, residents' concerns stemmed from the possible ramifications of subdividing the 15-acre property into seven lots ranging from 1.5 and 2.5 acres with one lot designated for a pump station near the intersection of Van Dyke and All Saints roads. The area slated for development also contains a small wetland area on the northeast corner and larger wetlands areas on the southeast corner, and is associated with an unnamed tributary of Harry's Brook.

The plan submitted to the board by Township resident Joel Schwartz, principal of the developer Landmark at Princeton, LLC, called for about 200 trees and 33 shrubs and an additional 34 shrubs for the pumping station to be planted. Any approval by the Planning Board would be "conditional" with a tree-planting plan.

The plan has been contested by several area residents amid concerns of increased traffic and the potential impact the development could have on the wetlands area. Several residents at the May hearing said 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) obtained by the current property owner, Myerson Associates. Residents say the existence of an active, year-round stream that runs through the property was omitted in the LOI. The stream drains the Herrontown Woods Preserve and connects to Harry's Brook.

That LOI has expired since being used in the Planning Board testimonial, according to Janice Jost-Mazzeo of All Saints Road. Ms. Jost-Mazzeo is part of the Herrontown Woods Citizens Association, which has opposed the development.

Myerson Associates have since filed for an extension of the LOI. The Herrontown group has filed a petition with Louis Cattuna, Mercer County section chief of the DEP in an effort to curb that extension.

The Herrontown group, according to Ms. Mazzeo, will supply the Planning Board with a testimonial from their own developer and environmentalist.

The application will be heard this Thursday, September 8, at Township Hall at 7:30 p.m.