Princeton Planning Board finds multiple affordable‑housing ordinances substantially consistent with master plan

The Princeton Planning Board unanimously found a series of affordable‑housing ordinances substantially consistent with Princeton’s master plan on Feb. 19 and recommended that Borough Council schedule hearings.

Planning staff summarized a set of rezonings and overlay districts produced to meet the municipality’s fourth‑round housing obligations. “Ordinance 20 26 01 establishes the affordable housing district 10, AH10, on 1 lot at 245–247 Nassau Street,” planning staff member Justin Lesko told the board, describing a mixed‑use proposal that would allow roughly 95 apartments over about 3,300 square feet of required ground‑floor commercial space and require at least 20% of units to be designated affordable, with a minimum of 18 affordable units.

Lesko told the board the package includes a mix of site‑specific rezonings (for example, AH15 at 457 North Harrison Street, which allows up to 191 apartments with a guaranteed minimum of 40 affordable units) and overlay districts (such as Affordable Housing Overlay 9, which spans six lots near Nassau and North Harrison and would permit up to 130 units across the overlay). He said standards vary by district but typically include a 20% affordable set‑aside, maximum heights tied to context (commonly 4–5 stories), and requirements for commercial uses at ground level in specified locations.

Public commenters who spoke during the ordinance package largely supported the goals of walkable, mixed‑use development tied to the town’s housing plan. “We support the building of affordable housing guided by the fourth plan,” Dipali Desai of Housing Initiatives of Princeton told the board, urging integration of housing with retail and pedestrian connections.

Board members asked staff for clarifications about minimum affordable‑unit counts in overlay zones (where the ordinance can apply percentage‑based requirements rather than a fixed minimum for each lot) and about pedestrian and circulation expectations. Staff acknowledged that in overlay districts the ordinance typically requires 20% affordable of whatever is built rather than imposing a lot‑by‑lot minimum number; that level of assignment remains part of the master plan’s accounting for the overlay area.

After discussion, the board moved on each ordinance to find it substantially consistent with the master plan and recommended Council hearings. The determinations are advisory: council will hold the formal public hearings and consider final adoption. Several motions were passed by unanimous roll call.

Next steps: the ordinances will be taken up by Borough Council for public hearings and action in the coming weeks; staff said one ordinance (20 26 08) was being reintroduced by Council and will return to the Planning Board after revision.

Why it matters: The ordinances implement major elements of Princeton’s fourth‑round housing plan and establish sites and overlay rules intended to increase in‑town housing at different price points and encourage mixed‑use, walkable neighborhoods while tying projects to municipal goals for mobility, utilities and natural‑resource conservation.