Princeton is not exempt from the impact of Global Warming and climate change. Routine flooding and increasingly destructive hurricanes and storms are now a fact of life. In 2021, swaths of Princeton were underwater, including Route 206, Alexander Street, Route 27, and Terhune Road. Quaker Road, a major artery off of Mercer Street, is routinely closed because of flooding. As recently as July, 25, 2025, TAPinto Princeton ran an article highlighting that five of the seven most flood-prone parts of Princeton, were located within one mile and a half of the proposed development. 

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The Municipal Council purports to plan for this reality, with any number of climate change-related stormwater and flood plane ordinances. How, then, has the Council managed to undermine its own ordinances by approving a complex that paves over an significant tract of green space, reducing permeable land by approximately an acre? The permission to removal of the site’s old-growth trees will only worsen the inevitable flooding. 

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The inclusion of a 221 multi-level vehicle underground parking garage poses unimaginable flooding threats due to the removal of tons of soil. For context: 221 vehicles is almost half the capacity of the five-story Spring Street garage in the central business district (485 cars), and that garage is built almost entirely above ground. The impact of such a massive loss of soil on stormwater run off and other hydrological problems has not, as far as we know, been considered or publicly addressed. 

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Exacerbating this problem is the dense shale formation below the ground soil. Shale is characterized by its ultra-low porosity, and extremely low permeability which results in uneven and irregular water run-off. This mean that not only houses at the bottom of Hibben, Edgehill, and along Mercer Streets will be prone to greater flooding, but that the homes along both streets will be as well. 

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The developer has promised to take extraordinary measures to improve stormwater and flood plain protection, another supposed great public benefit. But there has not been, as far as we know, any inquiry into how much the developer’s project will worsen the severe problem it says it will curb. 

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There is no public evidence of a proper assessment of the construction’s potentially hazardous impact on old and fragile residential foundations. Nor is there evidence that any thought has been given to the health and safety of residents of the surrounding neighborhood, particularly during construction. The hazards, including poor air quality, possible toxic respiratory issues, noise and vibration, are especially grave in any project of this size, especially when substantial underground construction is involved.  Historical properties are even more susceptible to damage. Official building permit requirements only go so far. There must be an intensive inquiry into how the construction of this complex will affect every building in the surrounding area.  

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