Chatham, NJ Zoning Board of Adjustment
Sundays tracks every public Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting in Chatham, NJ and summarizes what was decided — variances, site-plan and subdivision applications, and Board of Adjustment hearings. Land-use items are kept off the weekly Sundays email (they're a specialist read), but every one is archived here and verified against the official meeting record. 3 items on file; most recent October 23, 2026.
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Recommended Changes Discussion: Data Centers, AI, and Potential Ordinance Approaches
The board discussed whether data centers and AI-related planning issues should be addressed in the reexamination report. Members noted Chatham Borough had acted on data centers and described how governing bodies may introduce ordinances for planning board consistency review, including prohibitions or conditional use approaches, and related considerations such as cell tower ordinances.
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Recommended Changes Discussion: Building Massing on Small Lots, Floor Area Ratio, Setbacks, and Width Limits (R4 Zone Mentioned)
The board discussed concerns about excessive building mass on small residential lots, including in the R4 zone. Members debated potential tools such as floor area ratio, maximum footprint, setbacks/yard requirements, and adding width limits, noting potential variance burdens and that FAR may not capture perceived massing in residential design.
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Opening public comment: Residential standby generator zoning setbacks
A resident asked the Township Committee to reconsider zoning setbacks for permanently installed automatic standby generators, arguing they should be regulated as mechanical equipment rather than accessory structures and citing prior committee discussion and pending state legislation.