To the Editor:

Is lack of respect for appropriate procedure part of Avalon’s method? People I know who attended the November 15 AvalonBay hearing at the Planning Board (PB) were distressed by Mr. [Ron] Ladell’s bullying, disrespectful manner. When Gail Ullman requested him to cede a possible hearing date to the long-postponed Arts and Transit application, he bluntly refused. Ms. Ullman had to remind him to show more respect for the Planning Board process. Mr. Ladell is pushy: he hoards the microphone, as main presenter for AvalonBay and one of its attorneys, and gets double exposure.

At the Princeton Environmental Commission meeting on October 24, Anne Studholme, attorney for AvalonBay, almost shouted at Aaron Kleinbaum, legal director for the Eastern Environmental Law Center, “You’re lying!” — an intemperate, unprofessional charge. Later, she physically pushed Mr. Kleinbaum; he was forced to respond, “Take your hand off me.” One PEC member felt compelled to ask Ms. Studholme, “Have you no respect?” Another member asked that the record show that “the Attorney for Avalon Bay exhibited extremely rude behavior during this meeting” (PEC minutes).

The PB meeting heated up again when site contamination issues arose. Mr. Ladell seemed strident when he told the Board to reverse its decision on November 12 asking Borough Council and Township Committee to pass resolutions requesting a review of existing documents concerning possible contamination by an independent party (as the PEC had recommended). Mr. Ladell offered to bring his own environmental consultant — but Maser Consulting has already been exposed for concealing information, and AvalonBay is not unbiased. To its credit, the Board denied Mr. Ladell’s demand; Ms. Trotman and Mr. Liverman vocally supported Ms. Ullman’s determination to retain an independent party.

AvalonBay has consistently dismissed the public health concerns of Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods (PCSN) as “allegations.” The people I know in PCSN are interested in public health, not the so-called “scare tactics” Mr. Ladell accused them of at the Board hearing. Someone must ask: why do the hospital and AvalonBay oppose an independent investigation? Mr. Ladell later berated PB attorney Gerald Muller when, at the end the hearing, he inadvertently closed before announcing legal notice for the December 6 hearing. He actually stamped out (“We’re leaving!”) — and then snuck back to grab two private talks with Mr. Muller — at the dais and in the hallway

We should be concerned that rules of impartial adjudication are observed and that Robert Simon, representing PCSN, gets equal time. “These hearings are meant to be non-adversarial,” Mr. Simon said. Given Mr. Ladell’s contentious habit of filing lawsuits (as in Highland Park), we should remember one of PCSN’s axioms: a municipal body that fears lawsuits will never get the buildings and the zoning that it wants and deserves. Let’s hope Mr. Ladell can civilize his manner.

Robert Dodge

Maple Street