COMMUNITY VALUES
In Princeton, decision making about land use and development has been based upon a set of strongly-held guiding principles. These principles have evolved over many years and are explicit in earlier master plans and are readily observed from the community's distinctive character. The Planning Board has articulated its vision of Princeton in the following expression of community values.
1. COMMUNITY CHARACTER & QUALITY OF LIFE
Maintain a "sense of place" and small town quality that is distinctive to this community and evidenced as one crosses into the community through its several gateways. Maintain the scenic and historic gateways and enhance those that are less attractive.2. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Maintain a mix and balance of uses that crosscut socio-economic lines. The opportunity for people to work and live within the same community is the basis of this diversity.
New development must be compatible with neighboring uses and must minimize and buffer its impact on adjacent uses. Where new or expanding uses impinge on residential areas, extra measures are commonly required to mitigate its impact and maintain the residential quality of life.
Outside of the downtown, the rural and scenic character is retained by setting development back from roads and limiting clearing, site disturbance, road widths, and the extent of impervious cover.
Regional planning is given high priority. The Planning Board works with the neighboring communities on changes in land use, roadway improvements, open space preservation, traffic volumes and movement, greenways and improved water and air quality.
The viability of the downtown is dependent on its mixed-use character and the compatibility of uses. Residential use, especially in upper floors, is an essential component of the central business district. Commercial uses must be functional, attractive, and compatible. Criteria include adherence to established urban design guidelines and minimizing impacts pertaining to parking, traffic, noise, illumination, smoke and odors, etc.
The variety of housing is continually expanding to include different unit types, and sizes, so that they are affordable to many ages and income levels. Access to community services (transportation), public facilities (schools), and open spaces (parks) is a valued attribute. Innovative development patterns such as clustered development are used in appropriate locations to preserve a portion of the landscape in a natural state and provide alternative types and assemblages of living units.
Existing neighborhoods should be maintained wherever possible by encouraging renovation and reuse of older buildings and developing new uses for those areas that are underutilized.
New housing development should be organized and designed to create and sustain attractive and safe neighborhoods. Critical parameters are the relationships buildings have to each other, parking and major roadways and open spaces. Positive organizing features include open spaces, gathering places, shared facilities, and recreation areas.
Planning for new residential construction should be guided by traditional models of street layouts, tree plantings, and setbacks, as exemplified by various pre-war residential neighborhoods of Princeton. Typical postwar planned unit developments, with meandering streets, wide collector roads, cul-de-sacs, and arbitrary house placement, are self-isolating and costly in terms of infrastructure and should be discouraged as being less compatible with the established patterns of Princeton.
Historic sites, landscapes, and structures are integral to the character and ambiance of the Princeton community and are retained and enhanced wherever possible.
Site improvements should be built to human scale with reasonable limitations on size, bulk, and site disturbance. For example, houses should not be oversized compared to lot size, and a neighborhood should offer some visual diversity.
Technological advances are recognized and encouraged where they enhance the quality of life and do not present unacceptable impacts. Making technology and communication systems more accessible to municipal and school uses and to all members of the community is an important community goal. Recent examples of the integration of technology include the placement of satellite dishes, television cable systems, and fiber optic vaults.
The preservation and protection of the natural environment must be an integral part of all plans and designs for improvements and changes in land use. Examples include rezoning of The Princeton Ridge, focus on and protection of Lake Carnegie, protection of the Institute Woods and Quaker3. INFRASTRUCTURE & FACILITIES
The aesthetic quality of the natural landscape surrounding Princeton, and of the landscape of street trees and neighborhood plantings within Princeton should be preserved, enhanced and made an integral part of all plans and designs for improvements and changes in land use.
As a "Tree City", existing trees are retained or replaced with all development or changes in land use. It is regular practice for the Planning Board to require trees and other landscape materials to be incorporated into the site plan. Examples include trees within parking lots, mixed evergreen and deciduous buffers between uses, street trees along roadways, and evergreen screens around utility systems and refuse collection areas.
Open spaces are intentionally retained as part of the community resource base in the form of public lands and preserved areas within new development. The community's long-standing goal has been to preserve 25% of its land as open space. Open spaces are considered to have inherent values including ecological functions and recreation. They should not be regarded as left over land unsuited for development.
Linkages between all open spaces with the right of public access is a high priority. The vision is to have a continuous public open space system that meanders through Princeton with access from many neighborhoods.
Growth in the community must be supported by adequate public facilities and infrastructure including extensions of utility systems used to direct growth and encourage appropriate alternative development patterns such as clusters.
Roadways are essential linkages connecting component pieces of the community but are not the community's primary organizing element. Despite the demand to widen roads to accommodate increasing traffic, improvements are limited to a scale that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. Consequently, roads throughout Princeton are typically two-lanes and tree-lined and are configured to discourage traffic passing through town to reach other destinations.
The community is walkable and bikeable. The downtown is pedestrian-oriented for shoppers, visitors, residents, students, workers. Its infrastructure (wide sidewalks, alleyways, plazas, green spaces, and lighting) encourages such use. Sidewalks and bikepaths are important improvements in outlying areas to reduce auto-dependency and to help meet recreational, health, and environmental preferences.
Active recreational spaces and facilities should be provided within neighborhoods to increase the supply of recreation opportunities and to encourage community interaction and gathering. Recreational resources include well-maintained informal play areas for passive uses as well as facilities for active uses.
The community favors development that does not unduly burden the tax base and carries its fair share of regional infrastructure.
Princeton Regional Planning Board Master Plan Index