Tag Archives: Jonathan Drill

Great News

Yesterday morning, after three tense public hearings, Morris County Superior Court Judge Stephan Hansbury soundly rejected the Kushners’ brazen attempt to cram an unpopular 100-rental unit project on mostly public land behind our Main Street Post Office.

That decision frees Chatham Borough to meet part of its affordable housing requirements by building a 15-unit apartment house there, as our Mayor & Council voted on May 2.

For a quick summary, watch the video of Mayor Kobylarz’s comments in this Tap story:

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Chatham+Borough+Mayor%253A+Court+Finds+that+the+Borough+is+in+Compliance+with+its+Affordable+Housing+Obligations%253B+SV+Suit+Denied&utm_campaign=Chatham+Borough+Mayor%253A+Court+Finds+that+the+Borough+is+in+Compliance+with+its+Affordable+Housing+Obligations%253B+SV+Suit+Denied

For details, check out the records at e-courts, culminating in this final court order finding Chatham in compliance with its affordable housing obligations through September 29, 2026:

Will the Kushners accept that outcome and let Chatham build some affordable housing at Post Office Plaza, or will they continue to sue, appeal, and otherwise try to block progress? Stay tuned here and at this FB group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2429255717325924

Like a dog with a bone

Looks like the Kushners will never give up trying to seize control of Chatham’s Post Office Plaza.

They’re still kicking and screaming to a Morris County Judge, even after he denied them standing, our Mayor announced the timetable for a better plan for that spot, the Borough Council voted to backstop the cost up to $6 million, and the Special Master seemed satisfied.

#keepchathamsmall

The Kushner partnership SV and FSHC are trying to re-litigate the same issue the judge decided at the last hearing:

On October 12 they filed this with the court:

On October 21 they demanded that the court reconsider its decision:

Check our what Chatham counsel Jonathan Drill has to say about all that:

FSHC is on their side:

Will the judge do the right thing again? See for yourself! Monday, Nov. 7, 10:00 am, Morris County Court House, Morristown, NJ

Last Act?

Has Chatham met its obligation to allow affordable housing in the Borough, including Post Office Plaza?

We’ve done everything on the punch list. Now a judge will decide if that’s enough.

Come see for yourself: Monday November 7, 10:00 am, in Court Room 151, Morris County Court House, 56 Washington Street, Morristown, NJ,

Good News

Now thanks to a wise Morris County judge, Chatham Borough will have a chance to build 15 affordable apartments at Post Office Plaza – and not 85 unaffordable apartments.

#KEEPCHATHAMSMALL

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/sections/real-estate/articles/judge-hansbury-rules-in-favor-of-chatham-on-pop-the-town-deserves-a-chance-to-meet-their-obligation-with-stand-alone-units?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Judge+Hansbury+Rules+in+Favor+of+Chatham+on+POP%3A++The+town+deserves+a+chance+to+meet+their+obligation+with+stand-alone+units&utm_campaign=Judge+Hansbury+Rules+in+Favor+of+Chatham+on+POP%3A++The+town+deserves+a+chance+to+meet+their+obligation+with+stand-alone+units

Bad News

The rich Kushner developers are still trying to force Chatham Borough to let them build a 100-unit rental apartment project at Post Office Plaza – instead of our own 15-affordable apartment house, which the Borough Council voted to approve last May 2.

Will the Kushners get away with that?

Find out this Thursday, August 25, when the Honorable Stephen Hansbury will consider if it’s better for Post Office Plaza to house 15 families or 100 families with no place for children to play.

Interested? Come to the Morris County courthouse, Court & Anne Streets, CR 151, at 1:30 pm on Thursday August 25, 2022.

Misinformation

You read in the local paper about an August 9 hearing on the Kushners’ sore looser lawsuit against Chatham Borough over the fate of Post Office Plaza? Not so!

The judge has postponed that hearing to August 25, when he’ll also consider Final Compliance and related actions by Fair Share Housing Center.

What Now?

Nearly three years ago, Chatham’s Mayor & Borough Council granted a Kushner family-led partnership the exclusive right to submit proposals for a Borough-sponsored real estate development at Post Office Plaza.

Kushner and partners failed to come up with a proposal acceptable to the Borough.

Best they could offer was a hulking, 100-rental unit, commercial apartment/retail project. It would have provided 15 affordable apartments, but wiped out existing public parking, clogged up traffic on Main Street, cost taxpayers heaven-only-knows-what, and destroyed the small town charm of our Borough. Residents didn’t like it.

On January 26, 2022, our Mayor & Council let the exclusive period lapse, and began to entertain other proposals. On May 2, they voted to build a modest, 15-family, all-affordable apartment house at Post Office Plaza.

Instead of accepting that decision, on Wednesday, June 8 the Kushner partnership asked an affordable housing judge to force our Mayor & Council to accept the commercial real estate project they had just voted down.

The judge chose July 8 as the date for a hearing on the Kushner motion, making it unlikely that the judge will decide as expected on June 24 whether Chatham has fulfilled its affordable housing obligations. https://chathamchoice.org/2022/05/whats-next-for-post-office-plaza-2/

Last Friday, June 10, the Borough Council cancelled its regular Monday, June 13 meeting, only to turn around and schedule a special meeting for 5:00 pm this coming Wednesday, June 22.

Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes, our paid experts have been revising a key Borough document called the Housing Element & Fair Share Plan to satisfy the Borough’s obligations under the Secret Agreement dated June 14, 2021 as amended (paragraphs 8(b)(iii) and 12.) https://chathamchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/06-14-2021-Settlement-Agreement-Chatham-Borough-MRS-L-1906-15-Fully-Executed.pdf

The revised Housing Element will be up for approval at two special meetings set for the coming week, both at 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level, and virtually as indicated in the links below.

May 26 – Planning Board

https://www.chathamborough.org/component/dpcalendar/event/3895

May 31 – Mayor & Borough Council

http://chathamborough.org/component/dpcalendar/event/3896

Here’s a link to the proposed Housing Element, which the Planning Board and Council are expected to approve in the next few days:

https://www.chathamborough.org/government/documents/meeting-documents/planning-board-meetings/2022-planning-board-meeting-documents/2022-planning-board-agendas/2108-2022-05-16-hefsp-amendment-final4/file

Here’s the document the Planning Board adopted:

https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1399493/2022-05-27-HEFSP_amendment.finaladopted.pdf

#KEEPCHATHAMSMALL

What’s Next for Post Office Plaza?

1 June 2022 – New Deadline for Amending the Housing Element and Spending Plan as required by the 14 June 2021 Agreement

Here is the document the Borough Council must amend by June 1:

https://chathamborough.org/government/documents/redevelopment-projects-documents/general-documents/1514-2016-housing-element-and-fair-share-plan-adopted-09-21-2016-2/file

Please note that the amendment will require a special meeting of the Planning Board, because it has cancelled both May meetings.

Below is the document Jonathan Drill used to create that June 1 deadline only after he had misled Borough residents on an April 6 Zoom, falsely claiming that the Council must name and sign a developer by June 1:

24 June 2022 – 1:30 pm – Virtual Hearing on Compliance with the 14 June 2021 Agreement:

At that 24 June hearing, the Judge is expected to decide whether or not the Borough has fulfilled its obligations under the agreement of 14 June 2021 and should be allowed to retain its immunity from builder’s remedy lawsuits until 1 July 2025.

For the Zoom link, contact Jonathan Drill, [email protected], by 22 June.

For copies of the implementing documents, contact Acting Clerk Steve Williams at 973-635-0674 or [email protected].

https://www.chathamborough.org/component/fileman/file/Notice%20of%20Compliance%20Hearing%20%20-%20Affordable%20Housing%20Settlement%20Agreement.pdf?routed=1&container=fileman-attachments

1 July 2025 – End of Borough’s Immunity from Builder’s Remedy Lawsuits – Fourth Round Begins