Princeton Council Calls PCRD Lawsuits A Drain On Taxpayers, Aims To Recover Cost

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton council members say they plan to pursue recovery of taxpayer dollars spent defending against lawsuits filed by a local group, as the municipality approved up to $80,000 in new legal contracts to continue fighting two active cases. The Municipality is currently defending against four legal challenges to the site.

At a recent council meeting, Councilman Leighton Newlin said the municipality would direct its attorneys to aggressively pursue every available avenue to recoup costs tied to litigation brought by the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development, known as PCRD and Defend Historic Princeton.

"The cost of exclusion should not be borne by the very people and community being kept out," Newlin said. "This is some bull****, and we are tired of dealing with frivolous lawsuits, and we just want the public to know that we're going to ask our defense attorneys to go get our d*** money back."

Council President Michelle Pirone Lambros asked municipal administration to calculate the total amount Princeton has spent on Seminary project-related litigation to date, noting the financial strain on an already tight budget.

Councilwoman Mia Sacks said legal fees represent only a fraction of the true cost, citing the staff time consumed by Open Public Records Act requests and discovery demands.

"Some of our new employees have just been flooded with what basically amounts to a small number of people in one neighborhood," Sacks said, adding that the burden on staff and elected officials cannot be fully quantified.

The two new contracts, both recommended by Planning Director Justin Lesko in memos dated March 20, cover separate PCRD lawsuits and run through the end of 2026.

Maraziti Falcon, LLP will receive an additional $50,000 to defend the Planning Board in a case stemming from the board's consistency determination of a redevelopment plan for Princeton Theological Seminary properties.

PCRD filed that suit in January 2024, also naming the Mayor and Council as defendants. A Superior Court judge dismissed PCRD's complaint with prejudice in October 2025; PCRD has since appealed to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Muller & Baillie, P.C. will receive an additional $30,000 to defend the Planning Board in a separate PCRD lawsuit challenging the municipality's Master Plan, adopted in late 2023. That suit was filed in early 2024.

Both firms bill at $220 per hour.

Princeton has spent significantly more than the current contracts reflect. The Municipality has not released the total figure spent defending against challenges by two groups on this site going back 2.5 years.

(Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the total amount spent on litigation has not yet been officially determined.)

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