Hometown Chatham

Tag: Mayor Dempsey

  • What just happened?

    Borough residents got two mysterious surprises at the special Council meeting last Monday, June 22, 2026. https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=519

    At that meeting:

    First the Council voted to bind the Borough to a controversial agreement that was NOT available for public review.

    Second, the Council voted DOWN a Redevelopment Plan the Mayor & Council had been pushing hard for more than two years.

    Why would they vote that way? What do those votes even mean?

    Don’t ask Mayor Dempsey, who conducted that special meeting. She can’t explain. https://chathamchoice.org/2026/05/clueless-ii/

    Take the Council’s sudden about-face on the new Redevelopment Plan for River Road. The Mayor’s explanation doesn’t match the facts.

    She says they voted down the Plan because of a more recent proposal by AJDM, LLC to build apartments on River Road under existing zoning law, without the special incentives available under a redevelopment plan. See 42:54 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=519. Here’s the proposal: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/chathamborough/7fe546f1-090f-11f1-bb28-005056a89546-21f92362-28af-4727-9270-fd5a12163dfa-1778081726.pdf

    In fact, that AJDM proposal PREDATES the Redevelopment Plan. When the Council first unveiled that Plan, on April 14, 2026 https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=488 the Planning Board ALREADY HAD details of the proposal, as you can see in the following letters, dated March 6 and 27, 2026:

    AJDM_Chatham_LLC_3-6-26 2Download

    https://www.chathamborough.org/forms-documents/forms/affordable-housing/3022-chatham-presentation-04-14-26/file

    Planning_Board_Submission_3.2026_-_PH_2Download

    What that means is that as of April 14, 2026, when the Mayor & Council presented their Redevelopment Plan to the public, they already knew what the developer was prepared to build without the benefit of such a plan or a PILOT tax exemption. So, contrary to the official explanation, the developer’s proposal cannot be the reason the Mayor & Council chose to reject the Plan at the June 22 meeting.

    One thing we do know is that vote triggered consequence under an agreement the Council had approved last December 8, 2025:

    Screenshot

    Meanwhile, after months of legal wrangling behind the scenes, at the June 22nd meeting the Council also voted to consent to a court order the public couldn’t see until it was filed with the court the following day.

    Consent Order Final Compliance 2Download

    What does that order mean for Chatham? Why did the Council authorize the affordable housing lawyer to sign it after fighting over the terms of that order for months?

    For clues, check out the letter the Borough lawyer had filed with the court on May 14, 2026:

    6 14 26 CB letterDownload

    After all that, at the June 22, 2026 meeting the Council voted to authorize the Borough’s affordable housing lawyer sign off on a Compliance Order:

    Consent Order Final Compliance 2Download

    If the judge approves that order, what will it mean for Chatham Borough?

  • Debunking the myths

    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

    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:

    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 options, including some on Main Street.

    MYTH: Developing 58 North Passaic would help the Borough meet its affordable housing quota at no cost to taxpayers.

    REALITY: Nothing is free. 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.

  • Stuffed Snail Steals Show

    Our Mayor & Council are no match for the stuffed snail that seized center stage at their regular meeting on the evening of Monday May 11, 2026.

    That evening, the Snailster frolicked behind each resident who took the podium to address the Mayor & Council, as you can see at 1:53:00 in the official video: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=507&fbclid=IwY2xjawRxQ9dleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFDdEZSbjBDQTFkb2tVRnp1c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHlS2k6-NbmSkZv3PquEHEyr4ArlswwXh16OsiZ-cRtRjyZw3OS9b574UA0Kr_aem_zuMp08GE3ZDcq1U7GbfTDQ

    In that video, the Mayor & Council sit on the raised dais, poker-faced and apparently oblivious to the Snailster’s antics until a longtime Borough resident calls and brings it to their attention.

    “There is a puppet snail in the background…” observes the caller. “It’s quite distracting…When I’m looking at a speaker, all I see is the snail puppet… Are you aware of that?” (1:59:36)

    “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about, ” replies Mayor Dempsey.

    So the caller specifies the location of the stuffed snail. Council members perk up and peer at the podium. Smiles cross their faces. A giggle sweeps the Chambers. 

    “Do you see that?” asks the caller.

    “We’re all good. Keep going,” says the Mayor, neither confirming nor denying having seen the Snailster’s stellar performance. And no wonder.

    In effect, the clever snail danced circles around our Mayor & Council’s new policy requiring walk-on participants to give their names and full home addresses on live television and Zoom.

    Of course, our Mayor & Council don’t give their own home addresses at public meetings. They don’t even disclose them in state filings almost nobody ever sees. Too risky for them.

    But when a controversial resident tried to comment at a public meeting, the Mayor & Council dusted off an old rule requiring walk-on speakers to give their addresses. https://ecode360.com/32782605#32782605 They required the street and house number. See 1:26:18 here https://chathamborough.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=1

    Perhaps once upon a time requiring such personal disclosures at Council meetings created no barrier to public participation, Today, it does. Those meetings run live on cable tv and Zoom, and in reports and videos permanently posted online, making each speaker’s name, address, voice, words, and moving image readily available to everyone all over the world forever.

    Requiring such personal details undermines the purpose of Public Comment by making it impossible for residents to participate in local government without advertising in real time that they are not at home. That and other resulting risks discourage participation by residents who live alone or with vulnerable family members, lack security systems or personal protection devices, or simply like to maintain a little privacy.

    Solution? The Mayor & Council could easily gather any necessary personal information off-camera, as does the Board of Education.

    Only thing is, that might lead to more public participation at meetings. 

    The next two Council meetings are on Tuesday May 26 and Monday, June 8, 2026, at 7:30 pm at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.

    Rest assured that you won’t need to sign in or out. There’s no dress code. Come as you are. Arrive at your convenience, sit wherever you like, leave whenever you please.

    And kindly note that speaking is optional. 

  • Myth: It’s a done deal.

    Think it’s too late to save our green, wooded, Borough-owned 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to home plate at Memorial Park?

    Assume that green gem is destined to be paved over for four apartments and a parking lot and nothing can be done about it?

    That’s what some would have you believe. But it’s not so.

    The Borough’s housing lawyer and planner have confirmed that the Borough can propose an alternative site for that development. We have no reason to think an alternative wouldn’t be accepted.

    So, when will the Council consider and discuss alternatives to needlessly sacrificing 58 North Passaic Avenue?

    See how the Mayor & Council answer that question at their public meeting this Monday, January 5, 2026, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.

    Please note: This is a public meeting, convened for the benefit of residents and taxpayers. You are the boss. Arrive at your convenience. Use the north entrance. Go left through the door. Take the elevator to the upper level. Enter the double doors at the end of the hall. Sit anywhere. Observe anonymously or participate during the Public Comment period if you prefer. Leave whenever you please.

    Really can’t be there? (Working swing? Grounded? Under house arrest?) Zoom the meeting here:

    https://www.chathamborough.org/resident/calendar/mayor-council-reorganization-meeting-3

    For more details , click here: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/op-eds/articles/why-would-the-borough-council-want-to-pave-paradise

  • The last straw

    Do you know what’s happening in Chatham Borough? Find out before it’s too late. Attend the Borough Council Meeting: Monday, Oct. 27   🕢 7:30 pm 📍Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. Or, at the very least, Zoom from the calendar at chathamborough.org

    For years, Council candidate Karen Koronkiewicz enjoyed the loyal support of career firefighter and Ground Zero alum Captain Robert Penn, a respected longtime Borough resident.

    Not anymore.

    Now even Captain Penn has washed his hands of Karen and her political bosses, in part over their mishandling of the new Housing Element of the Master Plan.

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/no-longer-supporting-koronkiewicz

    Karen played a big role in that fiasco. She is on the back room committee that opted to let an unspecified developer pave over 58 North Passaic Avenue, the green, Borough-owned lot right next to home plate in Memorial Park.

    Though she represents the Council on the Borough Shade Tree Commission, Karen dismissed that wooded lot as “useless” and agreed to sacrifice all but one tree without first weighing the alternatives or taking public input.

    Screenshot

    Even after that scheme was announced, Karen kept mum about it with her colleagues on the Borough’s Shade Tree Commission until after a resident had broken the news to them at the May 22nd meeting. https://chathamborough.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=chathamborough_9bf1e4ac366152661e23e298c0351638.pdf&view=1

    At the October meeting of the Shade Tree Commission, Karen flatly refused to explain why she had withheld that pubic news from her Commission colleagues, including her own running mate Miles Gilmore. Could the reason for her silence have something to do with the location of the most obvious alternative site?

    With Karen’s re-election at stake, the rest of the one-party controlled Mayor & Council aren’t talking either. They would have you believe they cannot talk about it because it’s in litigation and settlement talks. That’s utter nonsense.

    In fact, there’s no gag order, and settlement talks are NO excuse not to explore alternatives in executive session, so the Mayor & Council will be prepared to update the public on alternatives once Chatham Borough receives its Judgment of Compliance and Repose, likely in January.

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/sections/government/articles/chatham-borough-residents-still-seek-change-to-affordable-housing-plan-to-save-green-land-council-mum-on-lawyer-s-advice

    It’s high time the Mayor & Council did the right thing: consider alternative ways to satisfy the Borough’s housing quotas without sacrificing  the green lot right next to home plate in Memorial Park.

    How can one person help persuade them to consider the alternatives? It’s easy.

    Attend the Council Meeting:   📅 Monday, Oct. 27   🕢 7:30 pm 📍 Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. Take the elevator to upper level. Enter the last room on the left. (Your presence matters. Speaking is optional.)

    House-bound? Out of town? Zoom from the calendar at chathamborough.org or https://www.chathamborough.org/resident/calendar/mayor-council-meeting-23-1761604200

    Tell your Mayor and Council you want to see some options:

    cdempsey@chathamborough.org       itreloar@chathamborough.org kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org    khay@chathamborough.org  bhargrove@chathamborough.org  jmathiasen@chathamborough.org jstrickland@chathamborough.org

    If it turns out that 58 North Passaic Avenue is the best bet, then so be it. But to hand that lot to a developer without due diligence would be unconscionable.

  • Good news!

    Contrary to popular rumors, Chatham Borough need not build housing on the wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to our Memorial Park.

    But the Mayor & Council will sacrifice that green lot anyway unless you tell them not to!

    Starting 1 January 2026, the Borough can offer alternative ways to complete the new Housing Element of the Master Plan.

    That’s what Chatham Borough Planner Kendra Lelie said under oath at the 18 June 2025 Planning Board Hearing on the new Housing Element. See for yourself starting at 1:12:20 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=393

    Here’s a partial transcript:

    Q: Planning Board Member William Heap: Kendra, let’s say the Plan is adopted. It is approved. And somewhere down the line, somehow, magically, another piece of land appears. Is there room after approval for a little bit of horse trading? 

    A: Chatham Borough Planner Kendra Lelie: So, after the approval from the Court, it is not uncommon that things happen, things change… Maybe something better comes up – and a better opportunity comes up. So yes, it’s a possibility.

    What can you do? Ask the Mayor & Borough Council:

    1. What substantive steps have our Mayor & Council been taking to prepare to identify better alternatives to developing 58 North Passaic Avenue?
    2. When will the Mayor & Borough Council begin to search for better alternatives?
    3. This time, will the Mayor & Borough Council perform due diligence on all parcels, including sites the clandestine Affordable Housing Advisory Committee never gave proper consideration, as well as sites the Committee never considered at all?
    •    Email them:

    cdempsey@chathamborough.org.      jmathiasen@chathamborough.org

    kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org.     itreloar@chathamborough.org

    jstrickland@chathamborough.org       bhargrove@chathamborough.org

    • Stop by the Council meeting, Monday, 8 September 2025, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. (Use the north entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level. Speaking is optional.)
    • Sign the petition: https://chng.it/GN4yhK8sGT
    • Share the flyer:

    Flyer for 58 N. Passaic 8 13 25 Download

  • Is it too late?

    Is it too late to preserve the wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to home plate at Memorial Park? No!

    In case you haven’t heard, that lovely, green parcel is targeted for development under a controversial Master Plan amendment that also allows construction of up to 206 new apartments on the busy east end of Main Street. 

    In June, Hundreds of residents protested that plan, but to no avail.

    End of story? No.

    Once the Superior Court approves the plan, which should happen by the end of December, the Borough can propose substitute sites, according to the Borough’s Professional Planner. https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=393 (Go to 1:12:20)

    If the Mayor & Council choose instead to sacrifice 58 North Passaic without having considered all the alternatives, they will lose the chance to achieve a better outcome for Chatham Borough.

    To avoid that fate, the Mayor & Council must begin searching for better options immediately after Labor Day.

    What are they doing about that?

    What substantive steps have our Mayor & Council been taking to prepare to identify better alternatives to developing 58 North Passaic Avenue?

    •    Ask them:

    cdempsey@chathamborough.org.      jmathiasen@chathamborough.org

    kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org.     itreloar@chathamborough.org

    jstrickland@chathamborough.org       bhargrove@chathamborough.org

    khay@chathamborough.org.       mayorcouncil@chathamborough.org

    • Stop by the Council meeting, Monday, 8 September 2025, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. (Use the north entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level. Speaking is optional.)
    • Sign the petition: https://chng.it/GN4yhK8sGT
    • Share the flyer:
    Flyer for 58 N. Passaic 8 13 25Download

  • Myth vs. Reality

    Hearing conflicting claims about affordable housing? Like to separate the facts from spin & fiction?

    Free ice cream at Scoops, a slice at Bucky’s, or coffee at Fleur de Sel for the first person who can find a factual error in the following post.

    MYTH: Chatham Borough has a history of shirking its affordable housing obligations! 

    REALITY: Not so. The Borough has met its affordable housing quotas so far.

    MYTH: Before June 30, Chatham must agree to build affordable housing on the green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot at 58 N. Passaic, right next to Memorial Park, or else the Borough will risk lawsuits that would destroy the town! 

    REALITY: Not so.  Like virtually all other NJ municipalities, Chatham Borough has until the end of June to revise the Housing Element of its Master Plan to meet a new quota, but the Borough is NOT required to build anything on that particular green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park, and the Borough cannot be held liable for declining to let a developer build there.

    MYTH: The Planning Board must have had a good reason for choosing to develop that green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park!

    REALITY: No, the Planning Board did NOT select that lot for development. Only a few political bosses even heard about it before May 7, when a non-resident expert told the Planning Board about a proposal to change Borough policy by changing the Housing Element of the Master Plan, an amendment they won’t see until at least June 6, but will be steamrolled into adopting on June 18. Start approx. 46:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=368

    MYTH: The Borough Council must have had a good reason for choosing to develop that green, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park! 

    REALITY: The Council did NOT vote to select that lot for development. Half the Council never heard about it until a few days before the Planning Board first heard about it on May 7. The Council never even mentioned it in public until the May 12 Council meeting, when residents started asking questions. The Mayor said they couldn’t talk about it, but the reason, if any, was not clear. If the Council can’t discuss a change in Borough policy, who can?

    MYTH: There must be some explanation. Nobody would sacrifice a green, wooded, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park without having determined that it was the best – or only feasible – option. 

    REALITY: So far nobody’s shown any evidence that anybody considered any alternatives before targeting that green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park. The expert who presented the idea to the Planning Board said essentially, we owned that lot, and the developer wanted it, so we made a deal. Start approx. 1:09:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=368

    MYTH: The Environmental & Shade Tree Commissions must have approved targeting for development this green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned location right next to Memorial Park!

    REALITY: No, neither Commission was even consulted. The Environmental Commission members who aren’t also political bosses didn’t hear about it until residents broke the news to them at the May 14 meeting. The only person on the Shade Tree Commission who knew about it was Council member Karen Korenkiewicz, who kept mum about it until a resident shocked the Shade Tree Commission with the news at its May 22 meeting.

    MYTH: This wasn’t a secret, back-room deal, so there must be some record as to who chose that green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot and why!

    REALITY: On May 7th the expert told the Planning Board the proposal was the work of a certain “advisory committee.” But the committee she credited with developing the proposal has NO public meetings, NO agendas, NO minutes, and takes NO public input. It isn’t even on the list of advisory committees on the Borough website as of yesterday.

    MYTH:  They’re going to do what they’re going to do. You can’t make any difference! 

    REALITY: Yes you can make a difference. You did it with the rolling reassessment, the peddler curfew, Post Office plaza, and the Middle School Arts Center. You can do it again. Our local leaders tend to consider their actions far more carefully when faced with strong public interest in an issue.

    So whatever your views:

    • Talk to friends on the Council, Planning & Zoning Boards, and the Environmental & Shade Tree Commissions.
    • Write mayorcouncil@chathamborough.org and shadetree@chathamborough.org. 
    • Attend or Zoom the Council meeting on Tuesday, 5/27/25 and Planning Board meeting on 6/4/25, both at 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level.
    • Encourage everyone you know to do the same.

  • The secret plan

    Have you heard about the Borough’s proposed affordable housing plan for 2025-2035? The Planning Board heard about it last night.

    They’re going to vote on it on June 18, and after that it will be the heart of our Master Plan for the next ten years.

    Of course, Borough residents and other taxpayers will have to pay for it in taxes, traffic, and quality of life, but you aren’t allowed to actually SEE the plan until June 6, nearly a month away.

    And after that, you won’t have a chance to ask questions or comment until the June 18 meeting where the Planning Board votes to adopt the new plan.

    Your only real chance to ask questions or comment before then is at the Council meeting this Monday May 12th, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.

    eCourts Civil Case JacketDownload

  • Things fall apart

    Last November 11, our Borough Council commissioned a draft Redevelopment Plan for a massive, 500-unit apartment project on River Road, next to the huge, 245-unit Ivy complex.

    https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2972429/RESOLUTION__24-333_AUTHORIZING_DMR_TO_PREPARE__A_DRAFT_REDEVELOPMENT_PLAN.pdf

    Since then, it’s come to light that the new project would be risky for Chatham Borough in at least seven ways, as follows:

    First, this new River Road project is NOT required by affordable housing law, and it would NOT help fulfill the Borough’s new Fourth Round affordable housing RDP quota for 2025-2035 either.

    The new apartments would be in addition to the Borough’s 2025-2035 affordable housing quota, which the Council must figure out how to satisfy before the end of this June 2025.

    Go to minute 1:31:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=197

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/blind-faith

    Second, the alleged risk associated with NOT adopting that 500-apartment Redevelopment Plan for River Road is imaginary.

    Our Council President insists that, absent the new Plan, current zoning allows private property owners to develop up to 707 new apartments on River Road and the Borough would have NO say in the matter. That sounds scary, but where is the evidence?

    https://patch.com/new-jersey/chatham/borough-supporting-another-massive-development-river-road-nodx?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3WyQLIJjRrA656yOFZhCsqROaE5baV9gYZ9WzT4wwfflvk8LfY5WYe4j0_aem_POd3z1AP3xU68-EadQWMWw

    In fact, about 40% of the Redevelopment Area (and more than 50% of the Gateway 1 district) is Borough-owned. Would-be developers can’t touch it without the Council’s consent.

    DRAFT Gateway Analysis – Copy – Copy – Copy 1 – Copy – Copy – Copy 2Download

    Also, the part of the Redevelopment area that’s privately-owned is mostly small lots, all subject to many federal, state, and local rules and regulations, including setbacks. https://ecode360.com/6793110#29899351

    P. 14  https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1399493/2022-05-27-HEFSP_amendment.finaladopted.pdf

    As such, the owners of that private property would NOT be able to build anywhere near 707 new apartments there without Borough approval.

    Third, if the Borough Council tries to prevent private development by adopting a rental Redevelopment Plan, then we’ll end up with far more apartments on River Road. That’s because to satisfy the legal requirement to provide at least 75 affordable units, making up at least 15% of the project, a rental Plan would have to provide for at least 500 new apartments – more than twice the number at the Ivy.

    P. 13 https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1399493/2022-05-27-HEFSP_amendment.finaladopted.pdf

    Our Mayor & Council are well aware that the Redevelopment Plan would allow construction of 500 apartments – twice the number at the Ivy. They heard it directly from Borough Planner Fran Reiner last March. Go to minute 1:06:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=197

    Fourth, some Council members don’t seem to realize that such a Plan would also almost inevitably involve granting the redeveloper corporate welfare, at the very least a total PILOT exemption from paying property taxes, same as the Ivy.

    Fifth, some believe the Mayor & Council could negotiate for a smaller project by persuading a developer to provide MORE than 15% affordable rental units. A 20% affordable project, for instance, could be limited to 375 units. But what would the Council need to do to induce a redeveloper to accept that deal?

    Would they give away the Borough land along the River? Allow the redeveloper to build several extra stories? Grant the redeveloper an even more lavish PILOT tax exemption? All three? How would such concessions impact financial security and quality of life in the Borough?

    Sixth, even a 375-unit Redevelopment project would burden our precious water supply, and might force us to resort to less desirable sources.

    https://chathamchoice.org/2024/11

    Seventh, the Mayor & Council President claim that adopting a Plan would enable them to get the redeveloper to throw in a “free” riverside park and other so-called “amenities.” But the fact is that nothing is free.

     https://chathamchoice.org/2024/08/welcome-back/

    To get those goodies, the Borough Council would have to accept an even worse a deal for residents and taxpayers. They’d probably need to give away most or all of the Borough land along the River, to allow the redeveloper to build even more extra stories, and to grant the redeveloper an even more lavish PILOT tax exemption.

    Before spending any more time or money on another Redevelopment Plan for River Road, our Mayor & Council need to tell us how they would avoid getting stuck with a huge, 500-unit rental project that would clog up our roads, and would almost certainly demand an exemption from property taxes, forcing the rest of us to make up the difference.

    https://chathamchoice.org/2024/12

    Tell the Mayor & Council to set aside this ill-conceived scheme and concentrate on urgent business, including meeting our affordable housing quota without overburdening our wallets and infrastructure.