Guess who’s in court trying to force Chatham to bring back the big Redevelopment Plan to allow up to 720 more apartments on the Ivy end of River Road?
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That’s right:The one now pushing another big Redevelopment Plan is AJDM, the very same Ivy-affiliated developer Chatham just gave the green light to build a small, 100-apartment project on the same part of River Road!https://chathamchoice.org/2026/06/__trashed/
But why? Isn’t AJDM happy with the project it was pushing all last spring? Didn’t the Mayor suggest that project would satisfy everyone?
Looks like that project was simply a. ploy. Now AJDM won’t give up until the Council adopts a Redevelopment Plan so that AJDM can build many more apartments on the same property, and also likely get Mayor &. Council to grant a PILOT, excusing AJDM from paying any property taxes.
And on 8/28/26 Fair Share Housing Center joined the fray.
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Why exactly would our Mayor & Council want to grant yet another developer like AJDM a free pass not to pay property taxes like the rest of us?
Have you seen your latest Chatham Borough tax bill?
Then you’ve also seen Mayor Dempsey’s enclosed letter, full of rumors, myths, and misinformation about the Borough’s plan to pave over the wooded, taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue.
Screenshot: Borough’s drawing of the project to be built on the wooded taxpayer-owned parcel. at 58 N Passaic shown in the Google aerial image above. Source: outline presented to the Planning Board on May 7, 2025, of Plan unveiled June 5, 2025, adopted June 18, 2025, and submitted to the state without public explanation or vote by the Borough Council.
The Mayor’s letter doesn’t answer any of the questions driving the growing demand for a public forum on that project.
Why would the Mayor wish to pave that green lot, right next to our Memorial Park?
How much will that project cost Borough taxpayers?
What are the alternatives?
What are the pros and cons?
Tell the Mayor & Council you expect straight answers:
attend the public Council meetings on Monday, June 22, and Monday, July 13, 2026, 7:30 pm, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level. (Come as you are, whenever you can. Sit where you like and leave when you please. Speaking is optional.)
Don’t accept the usual nonsense:
MYTH: The Borough must develop 58 North Passaic to meet the state’s affordable housing quota.
REALITY: The state did not target 58 North Passaic for development. It was selected by eight Borough insiders who met only behind closed doors and claim they kept no records. All we know is they had many alternatives, including some on Main Street, whether or not they considered those options.
MYTH: Developing 58 North Passaic would help the Borough meet its affordable housing quota at no cost to taxpayers.
REALITY: Nothing is free. That project would cost the Borough that. parcel and Borough taxpayers would be ultimately responsible for ALL of the costs of building, operating, and maintaining the North Passaic project, as the Council agreed on March 9, 2026.
MYTH: Developing 58 North Passaic is the only way to meet the Borough’s affordable housing quota without buying land.
REALITY: Of course, there are other options. One disadvantage of building the project at 58 North Passaic is it would mean the permanent loss of trees, fresh air, natural habitats, and the opportunity to use that land to benefit all residents.
MYTH: The only alternative to developing 58 North Passaic would be a much bigger project, with much higher density.
REALITY: In fact, the Mayor’s contractor is willing to build the same project, with the same bonus credits, at ANY location in the Borough.
MYTH:There is no other potential location.
REALITY: The viable options include both other Borough-owned land and privately-owned sites.
MYTH: It is too late to consider alternatives to developing 58 North Passaic Avenue.
REALITY: In fact, it is too early to consider alternatives. The Borough cannot propose one until after receiving its Certificate of Compliance.
MYTH: Even proposing an alternative to developing 58 North Passaic would put the Borough at great risk of lawsuits.
REALITY: If it were risky to propose an alternative, the Borough’s experts would have warned about that when they spoke at the Planning Board hearing on June 18, 2025 and at the Council meeting on December 8, 2025. They didn’t. The affordable housing lawyer and planner warned only that such a proposal must wait until after the Borough receives its Certificate of Compliance.
MYTH: It would take too long to select and develop another location.
REALITY: We haven’t seen any evidence to back up that claim.
Myth: Buying a privately-owned lot as an alternative site for the project would be expensive – too expensive for taxpayers.
REALITY: With an irreplaceable, taxpayer-owned asset at stake, the question is not whether buying an alternative site would cost us, but whether it’s cost-effective: Is preserving one of the last few green spots in town worth that? The Mayor can’t say. She chooses not even to estimate the cost to the typical homeowner.
MYTH: Environmentalists are trying to force the Mayor &. Council to spend our money to preserve the tree canopy at 58 North Passaic Avenue.
REALITY: All we are asking the Mayor & Council to do is to hold off paving over that green lot until after a public forum, where people can get basic facts, ask questions, and get answers. The Mayor & Council can do that at no cost to taxpayers now that a local has offered to pay the experts’ hourly fees. If 58 North Passaic turns out to be the best choice for Chatham, so be it.
MYTH: The questions about the 58 North Passaic project have been asked and answered at many Council meetings.
REALITY: While residents have been asking questions, the Mayor &. Council have not disclosed even basic facts, such as cost estimates and the viable alternatives rejected without explanation.
Enough is enough. Demand an answer:
When will the Council hold a public forum on the plan for 58 North Passaic Avenue?
attend the public Council meetings on Monday, June 22, and Monday, July 13, 2026, 7:30 pm, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level. (Come as you are, whenever you can. Sit where you like and leave when you please.
You know our Mayor & Council often turn a deaf ear to the residents who elected them.
Sometimes they have to listen to you. Now for instance.
With a strong candidate like David Andeasen challenging the Party machine in the June 2nd primary, our Mayor & Council cannot ignore your views on the two big issues facing them:
To meet a July 1 deadline, the Council needs to vet a new Redevelopment Plan for River Road by its June 8th meeting. The proposed Plan would allow up to 720 MORE apartments on River Road, at least 64% more than allowed under current zoning. https://chathamchoice.org/2026/04/another-project-on-river-road/
Only after that is resolved will the court issue a Certificate of Compliance. As such, the Mayor & Council have plenty of time to hold a public forum to explain their plan to develop the green, taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic, next to Memorial Park, versus buying an alternative site, before hiring a contractor to pave over 80% of that green gem. https://chathamchoice.org/2026/03/just-the-facts/
Wondering why the Council hasn’t already laid out the facts about its plan for 58 North Passaic Avenue – at least the construction costs?
Why would the Mayor & Council even consider allowing 720 new apartments on River Road when it’s already flooded with cars?
Wouldn’t a Redeveloper inevitably get a PILOT property tax break at the expense of the rest of us?
attend public Council meetings on Monday, May 11 and Tuesday May 26, 2026, 7:30 pm, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level. (Speaking is optional.)
Have you heard that our local elected officials plan to pay someone to pave over and develop 80% of our unique, green, taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to our Memorial Park, without ever having publicly discussed the alternatives.
They’d have you believe it’s too late to correct that mistake. Not so!
Once the court issues a Judgment of Compliance – probably by April, the Mayor & Council can propose preserving 58 North Passaic by swapping it out for another site. The Borough’s expert lawyer and planner have told us so at least twice.
Now our Mayor & Council can and SHOULD schedule a public meeting to discuss the pros and cons of alternative sites BEFORE they sign a contract to pave over80% of our unique, green, taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to our Memorial Park.
That’s the right thing to do.
What can one person do to make sure the Mayor & Council do what’s right? Plenty:
1. Tell the Mayor & Council to schedule a public meeting to discuss options BEFORE they sign a contract to pave over 80% of our unique, green parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to Memorial Park.Email:
Before the Mayor & Council plunge ahead with plans to pave over our green, vacant, taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to Memorial Park behind the Library, they need to GIVE US A FORUM to discuss the pros and cons and alternatives. There is no excuse to do otherwise.
Tell them so! Or at least show them you care about your hometown.
Have you heard that the sacrifice of the taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic is a “Done Deal”?
That’s an old trick called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Meaning if you can get enough naive people to go around repeating it, it becomes true.
In fact, there is NOTHING requiring our Mayor & Council to pave over the green, Borough taxpayer-owned parcel right next to Memorial Park.
They can just as well house the same four families at another site in town. Maybe repurpose another Borough-owned lot that isn’t vacant, green, or right next to a park.
Or they can acquire a privately-owned parcel for less than most households already spend on coffee or tea.
At the very least, the Mayor & Council should hold a public meeting to discuss alternativesbefore disposing of that irreplaceable Borough asset.
They are holding such a meeting to discuss options for the privately-owned project that will replace the Cottage Deli.It’s Wednesday Feb 11.
There is NO excuse not to give the same consideration to the permanent disposition of a unique, taxpayer-owned parcel right next to our Central Park.
Why do the Mayor & Council continue to refuse to schedule a public meeting to discuss alternatives to sacrificing taxpayer-owned 58 North Passaic?
Why do our Mayor & Council continue to refuse to consider alternatives to paving over the green, Borough taxpayer-owned parcel right next to Memorial Park?
The Mayor & Council have formally promised at least one such public meeting to discuss options for the privately-owned project that will replace the Cottage Deli.It’s Wednesday Feb 11.
There is NO legal reason not to give the same consideration to the permanent disposition of that vacant, green, irreplaceable, Borough taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue.
Why do our Mayor & Council continue to refuse to schedule a public meeting to discuss alternatives to sacrificing the taxpayer—owned parcel at 58 North Passaic?
3. Ask at the Cottage Deli meeting: Wednesday, Feb 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level.
Heard that the sacrifice of our green 58 North Passaic is a “done deal”? That’s a standard trick known as a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” It’s popular because naive people often fall for it.
Why are our Mayor & Council negotiating yet another Redevelopment contract, when they haven’t even unveiled their plan for the second big Redevelopment project they aim to build on River Road, next to the massive, 245-unit Ivy apartment project?
Or simply email the Mayor & Council and ask: Why are you negotiating yet another Redevelopment contract, when you don’t even have a plan for the second big Redevelopment project you aim to build on River Road, next to the massive, 245-unit Ivy apartment project?
Why are our Mayor and Borough Council so determined to pave over and permanently sacrifice the vacant, green, wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to Memorial Park?
At the December 8th Council meeting, a member prodded the Borough’s Professional Planner to say she had searched for another place to build affordable housing..
The hired-hand Planner complied, recalling a quest involving various locations that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another.
Only problem is, the Planner’s tale bore NO resemblance to the one she had told the Planning Board last May 7th, when she first outlined the Council’s housing plan.
At that May 7th meeting, when a Planning Board member asked about the process of choosing sites for development, the Planner did not claim to have considered alternatives, as shown in the official video starting at approximately 1:09:29 here:
Planning Board Member: “Can you just say a couple words about how [indecipherable you or we] ended up with these recommendations for parcels? Were there others that were triaged out? Just how did you decide these – that this was the optimal mix?”
Professional Planner: “Well, so, ah with regards to the 100% project [58 North Passaic Avenue] we knew that the Borough owned the property and we also had a non-profit developer that was interested in developing the property. So that was a nice marriage.”
Residents and taxpayers deserve better. You deserve better.
Tell the Mayor & Council you expect tosee options, get answers, and have a meaningful chance to weigh in BEFORE they sign a contract to pave and build on the vacant, green, Borough-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to Memorial Park:
Attend the next Council meeting, which is Monday, January 5, 2026, 7:30 pm at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.
Come as you are, whenever’s convenient. You’ll find plenty of parking. Enter on the north side of the building. Take the elevator to the upper level. Use the big doors at the end of the hall. Make yourself comfortable. Speaking is optional. Leave when you please.
