Did your property taxes increase last year?
Did you know that the Borough Council is considering revaluing your property EVERY YEAR from now on?
That’s the plan, announced at the last Borough Council meeting.
Why would they do that?
Is there any advantage for residents?
How much will it cost?
Don’t guess. Get the facts.
7:30 pm, this Monday, June 10, 2024
Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Use the side door. Take the elevator to the Upper Loevel)
Is there anything all of NJ can agree on? Yes!
From Newark and Hackensack to Cherry Hill and Cape May, we all cherish our freedom.
That’s why residents of all stripes are asking Governor Murphy to veto a bill that would undermine our freedom by gutting our right to public records.
Please join us. Contact Governor Murphy. Call (609) 292 6000. Text (732) 605 5455. Or go to www.nj.gov/governor/ to send an email.
Urge the Governor to veto bill S-2930/A-4045, which would gut the Open Records law.
Btw, this is NOT a partisan issue. The opposition spans the political spectrum, from:
NJ Working Families Party, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop); to
the founder of the Fair Share Housing Center, the NJ Public Defender’s Office, League of Women Voters, and the NJ Press Association); to
NJ State Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R-Dist. 26, Denville area); “a conservative bomb-thrower” per The New Jersey Globe.)
What has drawn together all these strange bedfellows?
“…I fear that if documents are harder to get [via the OPRA process], we will get less transparency and that will lead to more corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse. If your [Assembly / Senate] goal was to save money, be careful. A less transparent government is very likely a more expensive one, I fear….”
Kevin Walsh, founder of Fair Share Housing Project and now Acting State Comptroller of the State of New Jersey [State watchdog] during NJ State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Hearing on Mon 3/11/2024
“…this bill [S-2930] is dangerous…giving you [lawmakers] the benefit of the doubt, some of you are just terribly misinformed or intentionally misled…”; ” …and frankly this bill really does look like a list of all the cases that they [defendant municipalities] lost …”
C.J. Griffin, Esq. during NJ State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Hearing on Mon 3/11/2024.
“…The Synopsis of the Bill [S-2930] innocuously provides that the Bill “makes various changes to process for access to government records; appropriates $8 million.” In reality, the Bill eviscerates New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”) – a statute that was carefully and painstakingly crafted over a period of fourteen years…
New Jersey Press Association statement dated 3/7/2024
Kudos to every Borough resident who cared enough to share his or her thoughts with the Zoning Board – or at least show up for Chatham Borough – about a bid to waive 19 zoning laws to add a convenience store to the gas station at the chaotic intersection of Main Street and Hillside Avenue.
You are the heart and soul of this small town.
On May 30, our Borough Zoning Board granted that application, unwittingly nudging the Borough one step further toward becoming a gritty little city.
Tell the Governor to veto bill S2930/A4054, which would gut our longstanding right to public information.
Call (609) 292 6000. Text (732) 605 5455. For email, go to www.nj.gov/governor/
NEW Revised HEARING DATE: May 30, 2024, 7:00 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.
Imagine this: You’re a rich NJ gasoline distributor who owns more than 70 gas stations. You aim to get even richer by adding a busy convenience store to the Exxon station at the already congested, chaotic, and dangerous intersection of Main Street and Hillside Avenue.
You can’t add that convenience store unless you and your army of paid experts can persuade at least 5 members of the Chatham Borough Zoning Board to waive 19 laws to allow it. What do you do?
You do what the rich gas distributor did at last night’s Zoning Board meeting: Have his lawyer cap off his case with helpful testimony by Chatham’s very own traffic expert, who is paid by taxpayers.
That’s right. Last night, the big gas distributor called the Board’s traffic expert in to testify. The Zoning Board permitted residents to question him, but not to question the distributor’s own paid traffic expert, who was allowed to chime in from time to time with impunity.
Rest assured that this is not over. Not yet.
Before the Board votes on this proposal, the public will have a chance to express their views about adding a busy convenience store to an already congested, chaotic, and dangerous intersection. At the end of that session, the Board will hold an up or down vote.
Please seize this opportunity to show you care, get the facts, and have your say. Or at least hear what your neighbors have to say about this radical change.
Come to the public comment session on May 30, 7:00 pm (yes, that’s 7:00) at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. Enter by the side door. Take the elevator to the upper level.
April Fools!
This April 16, come on down to Borough Hall to hear from the traffic expert the new Exxon owner has paid to convince our Zoning Board there’s no harm in adding a busy convenience store to the gas station at the already chaotic corner of Main Street and Hillside Avenue.*
April 16, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, Chatham. (Use the side entrance and take the elevator to the Upper Level.) https://www.chathamborough.org/
Will the Board vote that night? It’s possible.
This could be your last chance to get the facts and have your say before they make their final decision.
April 16, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, Chatham. (Use the side entrance and take the elevator to the Upper Level.) https://www.chathamborough.org/
*The author has elected to abstain from participating in or voting on this matter in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
At last night’s special hearing, our Borough Zoning Board seemed ready to waive more than a dozen laws to allow a very rich applicant to throw a busy convenience store into the mix at the already congested, chaotic, and dangerous intersection of Main Street and Hillside Avenue.
The Board wound up not voting, most likely because the members had yet to see certain important exhibits, submitted by a resident, concerning traffic accidents. The Board decided to recall the applicant’s traffic expert, to testify again at another hearing.
Check out the video here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=19
Will our Zoning Board ultimately approve that reckless proposal?
We’ll probably find out at the next special hearing on the matter, date and time to be revealed at the next regular monthly meeting of the Zoning Board, which is set for 3/27, 7:30 pm at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Use the side entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level, Council Chambers.)
*The author has chosen to abstain from participating in or voting on this issue in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Traffic. Crashes. Noise. Pollution. Crime.
Our Zoning Board is under pressure to waive 19 laws to allow a new owner to add a busy convenience store to the gas station at the most dangerous intersection on Main Street, making it even less pedestrian friendly.
The Board could vote as soon as this Thursday, and without your support there’s no telling how it might go.
Please come to the special public meeting at 7 pm, this Thursday, February 29, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.
(Use the side entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level, Council Chambers.)*
*The author has chosen to abstain from participating in or voting on this issue in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Please share with friends around the state:
The dominant political party in Trenton is trying to rush through a state law that would trigger even more reckless overdevelopment, by overriding most local control of zoning and allowing big builders to gobble up almost every town, building many more huge, high-density apartment blocks – against your wishes and at your expense.
Only you can stop this calamity. So please, drop everything. Take a moment to tell your state senator and representative to “Vote no on bill A4/S50.”
It’s easy and takes less than a minute. Simply enter your address here: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/district-map or use the drop down menu to find your town here: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster
Also please recruit friends around the state to help contact these powerful state Senators:
What the heck is this all about? For the background, click here:
If you prefer something more concise, click here: https://www.rosenet.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=477&fbclid=IwAR22WIvg2auIHH8e4E-e2ltTwDt-Hjkl__HL7N9DdePXQ8EJxP_gRBMnIeY
Ever traveled through the intersection of Main Street & Hillside Avenue in Chatham Borough?*
Then you know those old streets are narrow and misaligned, making navigating the intersection confusing, chaotic, and dangerous.**
Knowing all that, our Zoning Board must nonetheless consider waiving a whole slew of our laws to allow the new Exxon owner to add a busy convenience store that would make that intersection even worse without doing any good for Chatham.
That vote could happen as soon as February 29, when the Zoning Board will hold a special 7 pm hearing on multiple variances the new Exxon owner needs to add that convenience store to the Main Street Exxon station.
What can you do about that? Plenty.
First, come join your neighbors and friends at the special 7 pm Zoning Board hearing on February 29 at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Use the side entrance and take the elevator to the upper level.)
Second, ask the Zoning Board the total number of additional cars and trucks that will cross our sidewalks to get in and out of the Exxon site each day, in a day, during current peak traffic hours AND during the extended service hours of the proposed store, from 6 to 8 am and from 6 to 11 pm, when the current service station garage is closed.
Ask them to consider what effect that additional sidewalk traffic could have on pedestrians and cyclists on our Main Street, an important concern under our Master Plan.
Ask the Applicant’s Professional Planner if he would support construction of a similar enterprise at a busy corner near his own home.
Questions? E-mail [email protected]
* Police crash reports for 2018 through 2023 show that Hillside is the worst of the three big Main Street intersections, including also North & South Passaic and Lafayette/VanDoren.
**The author has chosen to abstain from participating in deliberations concerning, or voting on, this proposal in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.