Princeton Planning Board recommends suite of affordable-housing ordinances to council

The Princeton Planning Board on March 5 recommended that Princeton Council take up a package of affordable-housing ordinances, finding them substantially consistent with the town's master plan.

Planning consultant Nathan Foote summarized six measures tied to the municipality's fourth-round housing element and fair-share plan. The ordinances would (among other changes) rezone parcels to create affordable-housing districts that require 100% affordable developments on some sites (minimums of 16, 34 and 35 units were specified for individual parcels), permit a range of building heights and parking standards, and establish an affordable-housing overlay for five historic Jugtown properties that limits rooftop additions and requires at least 20% of new units be affordable.

"In my professional opinion, the ordinance is consistent with the master plan," Foote told the board, repeatedly noting the proposals are intended to implement the fourth-round HEFSP.

Board members praised elements of the proposals while pressing for protections of neighborhood character. Councilman David Cohen said preserving the existing firehouse on Chestnut Street was "very important and part of what makes it a good project." Jack Taylor urged caution and said the Jugtown overlay, in particular, had attracted emotional community input that should be memorialized in the record.

Princeton Community Housing board member Ed Trucelli addressed the board during the public-comment portions of multiple ordinance reviews. "We are very excited to work collaboratively with the community and the municipality to make this happen and provide some more homes in a wonderful town that Princeton is," he said.

Key provisions in the package include: - Ordinance 2026-08 (AH-16, 13 Chestnut St.): Requires adaptive reuse of the historic front portion of a former firehouse, a minimum of 16 affordable units, a publicly accessible community room, maximum 4 stories/48 feet, and a 0.5 parking-space-per-unit requirement with up to 50% compact spaces allowed. - Ordinance 2026-11 (AH-13, 1133 State Rd. & 60 Mount Lucas Rd.): Permits up to 82 dwelling units with a minimum 20% affordable set-aside (16 units), mixed-use development with minimum street-level retail and office floorspace, maximum 5 stories/65 feet (measured from State Road), and detailed parking ratios. - Ordinance 2026-12 (AH-17, 27 N. Harrison St.): Requires a minimum of 34 affordable units on a municipally owned lot, stepped building heights (3 stories/36 feet within 25 feet of the front), and one parking space per unit. - Ordinance 2026-13 (AH-18, 303 John St.): Requires a minimum of 35 affordable units including a site-manager unit, permits up to 3.5 stories/45 feet, and specifies 0.8 parking spaces per unit. - Ordinance 2026-14 (AH Overlay 19, Jugtown): Carves five Jugtown historic properties into a new overlay that retains street-fronting historic buildings (no new construction atop them), allows residential above ground-floor commercial or behind storefronts, requires 20% affordable units where new units are created, and limits height to three stories/35 feet with pitched roofs. - Ordinance 2026-15 (rewrite of Article 12): Replaces the municipality's affordable-housing article to align with UHAC and anticipated DCA/HMFA rules, adding mandatory set-asides, administration and enforcement language, unit and program standards, income restrictions and development fees.

For each ordinance the board's role was to assess "master plan consistency"; the Planning Board recommended Council hold formal hearings on March 9. Several board members asked staff to post a companion memo explaining the Jugtown overlay's genesis and community input; legal counsel and staff agreed a supporting memo could be posted to the project file and website.

The board recorded motions and roll-call votes recommending each ordinance to Council (motion carried for each item). The zoning map update to reflect the new designations will be completed by staff after the council actions, staff said.

Next procedural step: the ordinances were referred to Princeton Council for public hearings and formal adoption decisions scheduled for the council's March 9 meeting.