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?

That’s simple. 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 don’t squander this opportunity to show you care, get the facts, ask your questions, and have your say. 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.