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.
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.
True or false? The new owner of the Exxon station at the corner of Hillside and Main has the right to add a convenience store on his property?*
False. The new Exxon owner has no such right. His proposal to add a convenience store there violates at least 18 Chatham zoning rules.
Adding a store there would also add traffic, delays, deliveries, crashes, pollution, noise, litter, and garbage to an already busy, chaotic, and dangerous intersection.
That would be a problem for everyone who lives in, works in, or drives through the Hillside neighborhood of Chatham Borough.
Fortunately, before the new Exxon owner can carry out his plans, he must convince our Zoning Board to grant several special exceptions from the normal zoning laws. Here are links to his applications:
Our Zoning Board should have no trouble saying no to that. At least two NJ towns have recently turned down similar proposals, as you can see here:
But will our Zoning Board have the courage to say NO?
Will our Zoning Board have on record the evidence necessary to make its decision stick on appeal?
Can Chatham residents help?
Yes, but we must act now, while there’s still time to get the necessary evidence on the record before the Zoning Board decides.
After that, it will be almost impossible to stop the new convenience store, which will bring more traffic, deliveries, crashes, litter, noise, pollution, and garbage into the already dangerously chaotic intersection.
What can you do? Plenty!
First, consider chipping in to help your neighbors and friends hire a good lawyer who can make sure the Zoning Board gets all the evidence necessary to make the right decision stick on appeal.
Unless we get enough pledges soon, we won’t be able to hire a lawyer. Without a lawyer, we’ll be gambling on our future. So if you don’t want a convenience store clogging up the corner of Hillside and Main St, please asap e-mail your pledge to: [email protected]
Second, at the very least, join your neighbors and friends at the special Zoning Board meeting set for Tuesday, January 30, 7 PM, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Use the north side entrance and take the elevator to the upper level.)
Please note that the Zoning Board has announced that there will be NO further public notice of hearings in connection with this Exxon application.
Questions? E-mail [email protected]
* The author has chosen not to participate in, or vote on, the application in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
PS The new owner sidestepped a significant part of the review process by chopping down a healthy tree before the Zoning Board could hear his application. https://chathamchoice.org/2023/10/gone/ Despite documentary proof that he wanted that tree gone, his engineer testified that cutting it down was the result of a misunderstanding.