Hometown Chatham

Tag: Overlay Zone

  • What’s in the Settlement?

    Not into technical stuff ? Skip this and scroll down to the next post!

    But if you want details, here you go:

    civilCaseSummary.faces 3Download
    civilCaseSummary.faces 2Download
    civilCaseSummary.facesDownload

  • 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

  • Would you pave paradise and put up a parking lot?

    (Let’s hope our Planning Board won’t!)

    NJ law requires every town to provide for affordable housing. Chatham Borough does that.

    NJ law does NOT require the Borough to pave over the green, wooded, Borough-owned, .3-acre, vacant lot at 58 North Passaic, right next to our Memorial Park, for a parking lot and four apartments, nor to impose an overlay zone allowing 220 more apartments on the east end of Main Street without having considered any alternatives.

    Screenshot

    But that’s what the Planning Board is going to do on June 18th unless you act now:  

    • Tell your elected representatives mayorcouncil@chathamborough.org and Planning Board that we want to meet the June 30th deadline while preserving the chance to vet a broad menu of alternative, at  public meetings, before the Borough is locked into final choices. Write:

    Thomas Belding    Sophia Calcaterra-Hull   Susan Favate       William Heap  Susie Robertson    Matthew Wagner      Jonathan Wilcox       Gregory Xikes

    Facebook or c/o Clerk, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, Chatham, NJ, 07928 

    • Attend the Environmental Commission meeting to ask them to call for an chance to consider alternatives that would preserve the vacant, Borough-owned land: Wednesday, June 11th, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. (Take the elevator to upper level, Room 301.) 
    • Ask the Shade Tree Commission to call for alternatives that would preserve precious, mature, Borough-owned trees: shadetree@chathamborough.org
    • Ask the Recreation Advisory Committee to call for preserving the vacant lot for recreation as originally intended when the Borough bought it in the 1980s: Suzanne Jenks c/o Clerk, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave., Chatham, NJ.

    For background, sources, and news please visit ChathamChoice.org