PRINCETON: Council may rezone Thompson tract of land in exchange for open-space acres

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton Council sounded willing on Monday to rezone a large tract of land owned by the family of real estate mogul Bryce Thompson in return for agreeing to preserve nearly 60 acres of it as open space and donate three other acres to the town for a future affordable housing development.
One of the family’s companies, Lanwin Development Corp., owns a 90.6–acre-parcel, in the area of Herrontown and Mount Lucas roads, in the northern end of town. It is one of the last, mostly undeveloped tracts in Princeton, owned by the family of one of the largest landowners in Central Jersey with vast holdings in this part of the state.
For this tract, Lanwin is looking to have the council change the zoning to permit a cluster development of 30 residential lots; all but one of the lots would be located near one another and built on roughly one acre each. Without the zoning change, Lanwin could get permission for a 27-unit cluster development or a 20-unit development that would require larger lot sizes, of some three to five acres each.
About a year ago, Lanwin filed an application with the municipal Planning Board for a 20-unit development, but no action has been taken on it.
On one hand, the arrangement would allow for more homes to be built on less land, in a project that would cost less to construct and allow Lanwin to shed some 63 acres of property from the tax rolls.
Mayor Liz Lempert and other supporters of the arrangement support a cluster development as “a better way” since it would mean less of the natural area is disturbed. The property is mostly wooded, containing a stream that runs through the property and some wetlands.
“When you have a cluster, you’re concentrating where the development is, so you don’t have roads going through forest. There’s a lot less fragmentation of the sensitive environment,” Mayor Lempert told reporters Monday at her press conference before the meeting.
“In general, I think this seems like a really good idea,” Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller said Monday.
Friends of Princeton Open Space President Wendy L. Mager told council on Monday that her organization supported a cluster development on the property. “A cluster … would avoid the entire tract being disturbed during the development process … ,” she said.
Through a company representative, Mr. Thompson declined to comment this week. Municipal officials said Mr. Thompson typically, as he has done in the past, would not develop the land on his own but rather sell off the lots.
Officials also still need to determine what happens with the 60 acres, whether Lanwin donates them to the town or they are dedicated as open space part of the deed. In either of those scenarios, the land would come off the tax rolls, the town said this week.
The town will need to determine how much of the three acres for affordable housing can be built on.
“That’s one of the things that, I think, we have to look at,” municipal planning director Lee O. Solow said Monday at the council meeting. “There’s some additional homework that needs to be done.”