On Affordable Housing and 58 N. Passaic

In recent weeks, a number of residents have been asking for a public hearing to explore alternatives to 58 N. Passaic for a small part of our affordable housing plan. In addressing this, I would like to correct the record on a few items:

• The property is not a “de facto” extension of memorial park. It has been fenced and unused for well over a decade — before that it had a house.
• The property will not be “mowed down” – most trees will be preserved, including a 15” buffer between the driveway and Memorial park.
• The Borough Council has received extensive feedback – and responded to it – related to 58 N. Passaic.
• Most importantly, there is no viable alternative.

For an alternative project to go forward, we would have to:

• Find a private site with a willing seller who will wait a year or more for the purchase and will follow state procurement law.
• Obtain public approval to spend $1+ million on this alternative.
• Find a willing partner to develop the project with access to construction funding.
• Submit this potential change to the Affordable Housing Program and get their approval (which is unlikely to be granted without some kind of sweetener)

After the success of the above four tasks, we then need to revise our affordable housing plan and complete permitting with shovels in the ground only two years from today.

Assuming a generous 50% chance for each item, there is about a 6 percent chance that this would succeed, and it would cost a lot of time, money, and effort — and expose the Borough to serious risks.

The Borough is tackling many challenges for the betterment of our community. Diverting time to a disingenuous public meeting based on a false premise is not a good use of anyone’s time. And, if history is any guide, the individuals most vocally calling for this event will then seek to turn it into a circus of insults, interruptions, personal attacks, and rhetorical “when did you stop beating your wife” questions.

Residents should know that the Borough is working through a more potentially impactful element of our affordable housing program, drafting and considering a redevelopment plan for River Road north of The Ivy by July 1. For this, we will be holding a number of public meetings, and these provide an important opportunity for the public to provide input. I will write more on that in the future, but keep an eye out for notices from the Borough.

As volunteers, Borough Council members don’t always have the time and wherewithal to fight the constant barrage of negative and misleading rhetoric and commentary from a small handful of residents, most of whom have much more free time than we do. We do have a smart, dedicated, caring, and thoughtful Council, and if something seems too absurd to be true, please reach out. It probably is.

Jocelyn Mathiasen

jmathiasen@chathamborough.org