Concept Plans For Post Office Plaza Project Unveiled In Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — The official Post Office Plaza redevelopment plan, dubbed the "Bowers Lane Affordable Housing Project," was presented to the public in Borough Hall after months of uncertainty.

On Dec. 6, several Chatham officials, including Chatham Borough Planner Kendra Lelie, held an open house presentation with representatives from redeveloper Bergen County United Way (BCUW) on the preliminary site plan for the 15-unit building.

During the hour-long informal meeting, Tom Toronto, president of BCUW, and architect Mike Scro gave borough residents an overview of the project and addressed concerns from the public.

The proposed building would be two and a half stories tall, with ten two-bedroom apartments, three three-bedroom units, and two one-bedroom units. The 15 units in the building would be for families and individuals with low and moderate incomes.

The structure will be constructed on.55 acres at Post Office Plaza, with both frontage and access to Bowers Lane, according to Lelie.

Both Toronto and Scro claimed to have prior experience working on residential projects, with the architect firm, Z+ Architects, having previously worked in Chatham, and this was taken into account when developing the design concept.

"We have a good track record, with a lot of funding partners based on the quality of the projects that we build, the quality of the architecture and the acceptance and support that we have from the municipalities that we build in," Toronto said.

According to Lelie, the Chatham Historic Commission will review the plans and make recommendations to the Chatham Borough Planning Board, which will give final approval to the site plans.

Following the presentation, residents were given the opportunity to ask Toronto and Scro questions during the open forum.

One concern raised was the lack of parking that would result from the new development. Under the current plan, the goal of the borough is to maintain approximately 59 parking spaces in the surrounding area.

The project is expected to be put on the agenda by the planning board this spring, with construction beginning in 2024 and lasting one year. After the site plan is approved, funding for the project will be discussed and selected in 2023.

"This is a long process. It's not extremely long, but it takes some time to go through approvals, financing and then construction. From a parking perspective, we're going to come up with some solutions in the meantime, it's not something that is going to happen tomorrow," Lelie said.

Bob Weber, a local resident, spoke up, inquiring about the applicant screening process and how it would work. In response, Toronto stated that when the construction is about 50 percent complete, applications will be available on the BCUW website.

"We will also be following what is known as an affirmative marketing plan, which is a requirement when building affordable housing. We are going to widely circulate the availability of the application…We're going to be pretty aggressive," Toronto said.

Before being approved for a housing spot, all applicants will be subjected to a standard background check as well as a round of personal interviews.