Now that the Borough has the all-important Certificate of Compliance, permitting the Mayor & Council to consider improving their Fair Share plan, when will they schedule the long-awaited public forum to answer basic, unanswered questions and consider alternatives to paving over the green, taxpayer-owned parcel at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to Memorial Park?
What are the realistic alternatives? If buying another lot to preserve 58 North Passaic would cost the average homeowner no more than $122 per year for ten years, is it worth the price?
What about other Borough-owned properties that are NOT vacant and right next to a park? Maybe consider repurposing one that’s underused and costing taxpayers a fortune to maintain?
Face it: if you allow the Mayor & Council to sacrifice the unique, green, taxpayer-owned parcel next to the public park without answering even basic questions, you will have given up all hope of having any say in any other local issue in the future.
Don’t let that happen.
Tell your elected representatives you expect them to schedule a public forum BEFORE they hire a contractor to chop down the trees and pave 58 North Passaic Avenue:
ANOTHER UPDATE: Instead of paving Front Street to the dead end as announced in the letter (below) dated July 31, 2026, the Borough chose to pave only part of Front Street, skipping the end leading to the parcel supposedly “inaccessible” as shown here:
UPDATE: “Due to a contractor delay, paving on… Front Street has been rescheduled for Monday, August 10, 2026, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., weather permitting…”
In the past, our Council tried to increase the property tax base by selling surplus, tax-exempt, Borough-owned land, including the vacant, 0.62-acre parcel just south of the train tracks at 39 Front Street:
Though 39 Front Street remains vacant and tax-exempt, it’s now called “rear of 16 Walnut St,” or “16 Walnut Street, rear”and the Mayor has deemed it “inaccessible”:
How can a parcel with a 50′ frontage on a downtown public street be called “inaccessible”?
Is the trouble that that end of Front Street isn’t paved?
If so, that will soon be remedied. A few days ago the Mayor’s Department of Public Works announced its plans to pave the dead end of Front Street:
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 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.
The public meeting starts 7:30 pm TONIGHT, Monday, December 8th, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Take the elevator to the upper level.)
Have our Mayor & Borough Council found a good way to resolve the legal challenges to Chatham’s 6/18/25 Master Plan amendment for affordable housing?
A possible settlement is on their agenda for the December 8th Council meeting, and the Council may even VOTE on it during the public session, which starts 7:30 pm TONIGHT at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.
Counting on local news outlets for timely coverage of important issues?
Don’t hold your breath.
The only way to find out about crucial local issues before it’s too late is to monitor ChathamChoice.org and public comments at Borough Council meetings, like the one on Monday, September 8, 2025, 7:30 pm at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave.[Start at minute 44:06 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=413]
What can you learnthere that isn’t in the local paper?Plenty.
Will the Borough Council let residents have a say on whether to sacrifice the wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic, right next to Memorial Park, or develop four apartments at a less environmentally sensitive location? https://chathamchoice.org/2025/08/good-news-2/
Will a judge scuttle the Borough’s new, ten-year housing plan and force the Borough to waive local rules to let rich developers run amok, including building 43 additional apartments at the Cottage Deli and the auto shop in Post Office Plaza, among other things? https://chathamchoice.org/2025/08/second-bite/
Go to Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, on Monday, September 8, 2025, anytime after 7:30 pm.
You’ll find plenty of free parking in the lot and on the street. Use the north entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level. Stay only as long as you wish. Speaking is optional.
