Despite growing public opposition, the Mayor & Council still aim to sacrifice the wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic Avenue – right next to Memorial Park – without having considered the alternatives!
Will you stand for that?
”It’s as green as Kermit the Frog.”
Tell the Mayor & Council:
- You’re with the 90% of Chathamites who want to preserve that green lot for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations.
- It is irresponsible to sacrifice that precious parcel without having carefully considered each of the potential alternative sites.
- Residents deserve a chance to weigh in on the alternatives before they make decisions like this one, that will permanently change Chatham Borough
cdempsey@chathamborough.org jmathiasen@chathamborough.org
kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org
jstrickland@chathamborough.org bhargrove@chathamborough.org
Show you care by stopping by the next Council meeting:
- Tuesday, 14 October 2025, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave.
- Use the north entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level.
- Arrive when convenient. Stay only as long as you please.
- Speaking is optional.
What the heck is the above all about?
Last spring, residents flatly rejected a Master Plan amendment, hastily developed behind closed doors, which included needlessly sacrificing the green parcel at 58 North Passaic to help satisfy the Borough’s new affordable housing quota.
Residents urged the Council to consider alternatives that could satisfy that quota, while also preserving that green land for current and future generations.
On June 18th, the Planning Board rubber stamped the take-it-or-leave-it plan. Though the Borough’s experts noted that the Council could later nominate alternative sites, some Council members insisted that the plan was a done deal.
https://chathamchoice.org/2025/08/sworn-testimony/
https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=396 (See comments starting 1:43:24 and approx. 2:11:00.)
But then two informal Facebook polls revealed that more than 90% of Chathamites want that wooded, Borough-owned parcel preserved for the benefit of current and future generations.
And now a growing chorus of residents is stepping forward to implore the Council to come up with alternatives that could preserve that precious public land. Several attended the September 8th Council meeting.
The looming threat to 58 North Passaic Avenue has become an issue in the current race for Borough Council.
Incumbent Council Member Karen Koronkiewicz (who co-designed the plan) suggested that the Borough might be able to build four apartments on the small lot at 58 North Passaic without chopping down most or all of the trees there.
”If you’re going to build four apartments,” scoffed challenger Joe Barrette, “you have to cut the trees down.”
He’s right about that, as the below aerial views of 58 North Passaic demonstrate. The first shows the site, almost covered what trees, and the second, which shows what the Council aims to build there, states that it will preserve ONE such tree.
At the September 10th debate, first time candidate Miles Gilmore, a member of the Shade Tree Commission, professed little understanding of the housing issue. He proved it by speaking eloquently in favor of protecting the trees at 58 North Passaic, while advocating acquiescence to the Council’s current plan, which will make it necessary to chop down virtually all of them.
Let’s hope Mr. Gilmore will look into the housing plan, and realize that the only way to preserve those trees is to preserve 58 North Passaic and put the new apartments elsewhere in the Borough.