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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

Why $6 Million?

Why would the Borough Council vote to backstop the POP project to the tune of up to $6 million?

Here’s why Chatham is bonding $6 million for a 15-unit housing project.

Here’s a copy of the report by the Special Master:

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,

The choice is yours

Do you like Chatham’s small town quality of life?

Or would you prefer to see our leafy little town transformed into yet another crowded NJ city?

That’s the choice you’ll make when you cast your vote for Chatham Borough Council members this fall. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2429255717325924/posts/3235741443344010/

If you’d like to see Chatham turned into a densely populated city, then you’ll vote for incumbent Council member Karen Koronkiewicz.

Photo Credit: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/sections/real-estate/articles/chatham-borough-mayor-kobylarz-casts-tie-breaking-vote-for-post-office-plaza-chooses-15-100-affordable-housing-over-kre-100

You can count on Karen to try to turn Chatham into a city. She recently voted to sacrifice 100% of our public parking at Post Office Plaza so a rich developer could build a 100-unit, commercial/retail housing project that would have clogged up our streets, and cost taxpayers heaven only knows how much. [Check out Option #2 at https://chathamchoice.org/2022/04/sophies-choice/]

A vote for Karen is a vote to turn Chatham into another crowded NJ city. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2429255717325924/

Would you prefer to preserve our small town quality of life? Then you’ll vote for incumbent Council President Irene Treloar.

Irene resisted intense pressure to go along with Karen’s overdevelopment scheme. On May 2, she voted to substitute a modest, 15-unit apartment house, fulfilling our need for affordable housing without destroying what we love about Chatham. [Check out Option #3 at https://chathamchoice.org/2022/04/sophies-choice/]

You can either vote for Irene alone, or cast your second vote for one of the other candidates on the ballot.

Either way, your vote this November will send a powerful message to the Mayor & Council about your vision for the future of Chatham Borough.

Here’s the result:

https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Morris/116156/web.303253/#/summary

Best Choice

The courage to do right by Chatham

How did Chatham Borough manage to escape the Kushners’ big, reckless, commercial overdevelopment scheme that would have destroyed downtown Post Office Plaza, wiped out parking, tied up traffic, and jeopardized our schools? Simple: Borough Council president Irene Treloar had the courage to vote her conscience on May 2, 2022. Thanks, Irene!

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.