The Princeton Planning Board will decide in February about whether the board takes jurisdiction for Princeton Academy of Sacred Heart’s minor site plan application, which proposes the construction of two turf fields on the school’s campus.
During the planning board meeting on Dec. 10 the Princeton Academy application was carried to Feb. 4. While the board did take jurisdiction regarding the notice, board members wanted to hear more testimony on the application before making a decision about whether to take action.
Princeton Academy is seeking minor site plan and conditional use approval to convert existing natural grass playing fields to synthetic turf fields and enlarge the overall area of the athletic fields. The project would construct 4.2 acres of synthetic turf playing fields on the school’s campus at Great Road.
Princeton Academy is a private boys’ school for grades K-8 that was founded in 1998. Currently, students at the school play soccer, lacrosse and baseball, participate in physical education classes, and enjoy recess playtime on two grass fields. The proposed turf project would convert the existing grass athletic fields in the northeast corner of Princeton Academy’s campus into turf fields. The turf fields would primarily be for soccer, lacrosse, and baseball. The Princeton Soccer Association would lease the turf fields, using them on weekdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and on weekends until 7 p.m.
At the planning board’s public virtual meeting on Dec. 10, about 100 people were on Zoom for the public hearing on the academy’s proposed fields, but the board reviewed another project first, and that review took three hours, leaving only half an hour for the review of the school’s application.