AvalonBay's Fire Prevention Plans Inadequate

To the Editor:   

Recent lightning strikes and fires in Princeton (Town Topics, August 15) remind us that AvalonBay (AB), applicant to develop the old hospital site, may pose unacceptable dangers to our community. Princeton should be alarmed.   

AB’s fire prevention plans (available in the Planning Board office) are woefully inadequate:   

1. AB has not yet tested water flow from hydrants for use by fire hoses (tests  to be performed by NJ American Water have not been requested by AB). If water pressure is insufficient, then fire trucks cannot function.  AB claims it lacks permission to order tests since hydrants are on Princeton Medical Center property; but the hospital has granted permission.      
2. AB measures distance between hydrants “as the crow flies” (AB plans, Sheet 7). But hoses do not go through houses; they go on “traveled roadway.” AB plans do not comply with National Fire Protection Association recommendations.  Fire-trucks use hoses between hydrants: firemen must know a site’s hydrant-distances to function efficiently,  rapidly. AB distances must be recalculated, now, not later.    
3. Access to this AB residential complex by fire trucks with ladders: the proposed main entries to  the AB site (from Witherspoon and Henry Streets) may not have a turning-radius broad enough to accommodate fire engines. The entry area must be redesigned, if necessary, before the Borough Engineer deems the AB application “Complete,” i.e., ready for review by SPRAB and the Planning Board. AB thus far refuses to supply illustrations showing how fire trucks would navigate roads on-site, saying that such illustrations are not required by the Completeness checklist. This arrogant response puts the Princeton community at risk. (By comparison, PNC Bank has volunteered such illustrations for its new Shopping Center facility.)    
4. What dangers result from a site plan that includes many apartments that face interior courtyards? Will apartments be accessible to firemen? These legitimate questions indicate that AB’s site plan, already denounced as a monolithic gated community, may pose a genuine safety hazard for the 500+  people who rent the units.    

Some issues above are slated for “Technical Review” after any application is deemed “Complete.” But risks to human life currently posed by the inadequacies of AB design are so grave that municipal staff must evaluate them at the earliest possible time.   

We also worry about AB’s building materials: all wood. AB’s wood-frame development in Quincy, MA, caught fire in 2008; AB was faulted for a dysfunctional sprinkler system. You can see another AB fire (Uniondale, NY, 4/11/12) on YouTube (type in “AvalonBay fires”). We worry about the safety of Princeton’s all-volunteer emergency services first responders (as well as renters). AB deficiencies imperil Princeton and endanger emergency resources. Shortcomings must be rectified. Municipal staff and Boards must ensure public safety, with or without AvalonBay.   

Please donate to defend Princeton against AB’s development. Checks payable to “Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods” should be sent to Kate Warren, 17 Jefferson Street, Princeton. 

Kate Warren (President, Princeton Engine Company #1 Ladies Auxillary), Maria Delaney (Trustee, Princeton Engine Company #1 Ladies Auxiliary), Daniel A. Harris, Dodds Lane