Princeton Planning Board recommends redevelopment designation for Westminster Choir College site

Christopher Collie, a licensed professional planner with Topology, testified April 16 that the two parcels comprising the former Westminster Choir College campus meet the statutory tests for designation as a non‑condemnation area in need of redevelopment, and the Princeton Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend that the mayor and council accept that finding.

Collie told the board he had prepared a 50‑page preliminary investigation, supported by roughly 100 pages of appendices and photographs, and said the report focuses on three pervasive conditions: water damage, lack of accessibility and failing heating/cooling systems. "My position is that yes, it does," Collie said when asked whether the study area meets the criteria for designation.

The consultant said Taylor Hall and a number of other buildings show evidence of extensive steam and water damage and that, by his method of counting any building with observed water damage toward its full building area, buildings representing about 84% of the campus square footage show some degree of water‑damage evidence. "We find that 84% of the overall building in the square footage is a building that has water…