The institute for Advanced Study has suffered a setback in its plans to build 15 faculty homes on its property adjacent to the Princeton Battlefield, according to a report in the Princeton Packet.
The paper reports that the D&R Canal Commission voted 4-3 against granting a waiver that would have allowed the Institute's project to encroach into a stream that feeds into Stony Brook and then the Raritan River.
The Princeton Battlefield Society has opposed the Institute's housing plan throughout the process. The Planning Board's vote was unanimously in favor of the project, claiming the land in question was the site of Gen. George Washington’s counterattack and first victory against the British during the Battle of Princeton in 1777.
The Battlefield Society is represented by attorney Bruce Afran, who told the Packet, the housing project is now "dead." An Institute official said the group is now considering its options, but doesn't think the setback will derail the entire project.
According to the Packet, the Institute's options includ appealing to a state appeals court of to present a revised project to the Princeton Planning board.
The Princeton Regional Planning Board approved the housing project in March, 2012. The project calls for 15 faculty homes will sit on 6 acres, permanently preserving 60 percent of the tract as public open space.
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