This April 16, come on down to Borough Hall to hear from the traffic expert the new Exxon owner has paid to convince our Zoning Board there’s no harm in adding a busy convenience store to the gas station at the already chaotic corner of Main Street and Hillside Avenue.*
April 16, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, Chatham. (Use the side entrance and take the elevator to the Upper Level.) https://www.chathamborough.org/
Crack it up at Hillside & Main
Will the Board vote that night? It’s possible.
This could be your last chance to get the facts and have your say before they make their final decision.
April 16, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, Chatham. (Use the side entrance and take the elevator to the Upper Level.) https://www.chathamborough.org/
6 River Road, Summit, NJ
*The author has elected to abstain from participating in or voting on this matter in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
At last night’s special hearing, our Borough Zoning Board seemed ready to waive more than a dozen laws to allow a very rich applicant to throw a busy convenience store into the mix at the already congested, chaotic, and dangerous intersection of Main Street and Hillside Avenue.
The Board wound up not voting, most likely because the members had yet to see certain important exhibits, submitted by a resident, concerning traffic accidents. The Board decided to recall the applicant’s traffic expert, to testify again at another hearing.
Will our Zoning Board ultimately approve that reckless proposal?
We’ll probably find out at the next special hearing on the matter, date and time to be revealed at the next regular monthly meeting of the Zoning Board, which is set for 3/27, 7:30 pm at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Use the side entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level, Council Chambers.)
*The author has chosen to abstain from participating in or voting on this issue in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Our Zoning Board is under pressure to waive 19 laws to allow a new owner to add a busy convenience store to the gas station at the most dangerous intersection on Main Street, making it even less pedestrian friendly.
The Board could vote as soon as this Thursday, and without your support there’s no telling how it might go.
Please come to the special public meeting at 7 pm, this Thursday, February 29, at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.
(Use the side entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level, Council Chambers.)*
*The author has chosen to abstain from participating in or voting on this issue in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
The dominant political party in Trenton is trying to rush through a state law that would trigger even more reckless overdevelopment, by overriding most local control of zoning and allowing big builders to gobble up almost every town, building many more huge, high-density apartment blocks – against your wishes and at your expense.
Only you can stop this calamity. So please, drop everything. Take a moment to tell your state senator and representative to “Vote no on bill A4/S50.”
Ever traveled through the intersection of Main Street & Hillside Avenue in Chatham Borough?*
Then you know those old streets are narrow and misaligned, making navigating the intersection confusing, chaotic, and dangerous.**
Crack it up at Hillside & Main
Knowing all that, our Zoning Board must nonetheless consider waiving a whole slew of our laws to allow the new Exxon owner to add a busy convenience store that would make that intersection even worse without doing any good for Chatham.
That vote could happen as soon as February 29, when the Zoning Board will hold a special 7 pm hearing on multiple variances the new Exxon owner needs to add that convenience store to the Main Street Exxon station.
What can you do about that? Plenty.
First, come join your neighbors and friends at the special 7 pm Zoning Board hearing on February 29 at Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue. (Use the side entrance and take the elevator to the upper level.)
Second, ask the Zoning Board the total number of additional cars and trucks that will cross our sidewalks to get in and out of the Exxon site each day, in a day, during current peak traffic hours AND during the extended service hours of the proposed store, from 6 to 8 am and from 6 to 11 pm, when the current service station garage is closed.
Ask them to consider what effect that additional sidewalk traffic could have on pedestrians and cyclists on our Main Street, an important concern under our Master Plan.
Ask the Applicant’s Professional Planner if he would support construction of a similar enterprise at a busy corner near his own home.
* Police crash reports for 2018 through 2023 show that Hillside is the worst of the three big Main Street intersections, including also North & South Passaic and Lafayette/VanDoren.
**The author has chosen to abstain from participating in deliberations concerning, or voting on, this proposal in her capacity as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Would you like to see a convenience store/gas station in Chatham’s Main Street Historic District?
Should our Zoning Board waive the normal rules to allow that?* **
Come to the public Zoning Board hearing.
NEW NEW Date!
December 20, 7:30 pm, at Chatham Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level.
What’s this all about?
The new owner of the Exxon station on Main Street hopes to add a convenience store that’s inconsistent with our Borough Zoning laws.. To go ahead, he must convince the Zoning Board that adding that store would be good for Chatham.***
The applicant operates a similar gas/convenience store that’s open 24/7 just over the border in Summit. 18 County Rd 649 – Google Maps
The main difference is that the Shell/7-Eleven on River Road has a brick facade, instead of the vinyl siding the applicant plans for the TigerMart on Chatham’s Main Street.
By keeping long hours – often all night – convenience stores average 1,400 transactions per day, and most patrons (65%) consume their purchases on the spot. “Litter can be a significant challenge,” notes the trade association that advocates for the industry. @
Come to the public hearing, postponed yet again to November 15, 7:30 pm, at Chatham Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level.
That is your chance to get the facts, ask questions, make comments, and show you care about your town.
If you cannot be there in person, you can Zoom or call in. You’ll find the directions by clicking on the Zoning Board Meeting to be posted on the Borough calendar:
** Exactly what is the applicant proposing to build? To see the complete application, visit the Clerk’s office at Borough Hall, 54 Main Street or click on “Agenda Packet” for the Zoning Board at this link: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=1
Or download the basic application (no exhibits or supporting documents):
