PRINCETON, NJ - Ionna, LLC has filed an application seeking preliminary and final major site development approval to install eight electric vehicle charging stalls at the Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street.
The Princeton Planning Board is scheduled to hear the application at a virtual meeting Thursday.
The proposal would remove 10 existing parking stalls to make way for the EV stalls, served by four dual-port chargers, along with a transformer and switchgear cabinet. Because charging stations count as a credit of two spaces each, the shopping center's total stall count would drop only slightly, from 960 to 958 — still above the 912 stalls required under zoning.
The application requires variances because Ionna is proposing branded "iONNA" logo signage on the chargers that exceeds what's allowed under the sign code.
In a July 10 memo, Land Use Engineer James J. Purcell and Zoning Officer Taylor Gribbin noted that code permits signage covering roughly 255 square inches, while the applicant's proposed logos would total roughly 523.95 square inches.
The plan also calls for relocating a light pole, reshaping a planting island, adding a new crosswalk from the charging stalls to the shopping center buildings, and replacing four trees that must be removed for construction with four native replacement trees — two thornless honeylocust and two red maples.
In his staff memo, Planning Department reviewer Nathan Foote wrote that the application is generally consistent with the Princeton Master Plan, which calls for electric vehicle infrastructure that is "accessible and equitably distributed throughout the Municipality."
The Princeton Environmental Commission also backed the proposal. In a June 24 memo, Commission Chair Anne Soos wrote that "adding to Princeton's Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) infrastructure is highly desirable" and that the commission is "happy to see this proposal." The commission did raise concerns about light pollution near neighboring Grover Park, recommending the lighting be DarkSky-compliant and dimmed after 10:30 p.m.
Separately, it suggested — as a bigger, costlier alternative — relocating the chargers one parking block north to add a solar canopy, though staff noted this would go beyond the scope of the current application.
Staff raised several questions for the applicant to address at the hearing, including how drivers will find the chargers given their location away from the Harrison Street frontage, whether two bollards per station provide adequate protection, and how the transformer will connect to off-site electric service.
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