Would you like to have more chats with your neighbors? HP Community chat follows the paradigm of walking across the block to chat with your neighbor in his yard — face-to-face. Bob Aiello, founder of HP Community Chat, describes the chat:

“We have meetings online to provide that opportunity to get to know our neighbors face to face. We hope to have in-person meetings in the future. We are committed to having a civil discourse without censorship, remembering always that we are neighbors, and we should respect each other’s opinions and views. Hence there is no censorship, and everyone is encouraged to present their views and opinions with emotion and conviction. We want to hear each other’s opinions. We do not need to agree with each other in order to respect each other. Above all, we are neighbors and we should all feel safe to give our honest opinions and to especially enjoy when we disagree and learn from each other’s views and opinions. “

On November 1, 2023 the Highland Park Community chat discussed these topics:

1. Urban density and how large do we want our buildings to be
2. Should we have time limits when people speak at Highland Park Borough Council meetings?
3. Reducing the deer population

Bob Aiello, founder of HP Community Chat, wrote: “We had a nice discussion last night, and it was great getting to know our neighbors.” He reported back some of the response on the topics of urban density, time limits at Council meetings, and the deer question.

Urban Density

Should we support plans to build larger buildings in Highland Park? Do these redevelopment plans help Highland Park? What does helping Highland Park even mean? Does it mean more money to the tax base? Stores that the consumers need? How can we get Borough Council to be more transparent on future redevelopment plans? Will the redevelopment plan include “green” areas where people can meet friends, grab a coffee, or sit and read? What should be the limit of stories for a building?

Not everyone is on Facebook or wants to join the HP Community Chat. There are other ways to express one’s opinion. A forum that was created a few months back is called HP NJ News Forum. Similar questions to those posed in HP Community Chat were posted on that forum, and one resident answered questions about urban density and about deer.

The resident wrote on the HP NJ News Forum:

This is one of those situations where we have to either bow to economic realities of the region or move somewhere with wide open spaces. Disclaimer: I think a log cabin in Maine sounds fantastic.

On the other habd, we do have to manage the growth in a way that balances developer/investor interest with residents’. Eg, to me, the “traffic diet” in conjunction with plans for a high rise, implies what exactly?

Time Limits at Borough Council Meetings

• Why are people being limited to three minutes?
• We never had time limits before.
• What do other towns do?
• Does the time limit include time for council members to respond?
• We need some rules in place to prevent filibustering.
• Highland Park council should not censor residents expressing their opinions.
• Highland Park Borough Council does not respond to community concerns.
• The three minute rule has the effect of preventing residents from expressing their views.
• It is useless to go to meetings because the council does not care to hear our views.
• Meetings are just a show – confirm what they already decided before the meeting.

Deer Population

Should we allow deer hunting in Highland Park? What are other ways to control deer population? One suggestion is sterilization. One suggestion is a presentation from Animal Protection League of New Jersey.

The HP Community Chat did not have much time to discuss deer. If you are on Facebook, you can go to this post and discuss the topic: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HPEEG/posts/3573946212925097/

One resident responded via email on the deer question: “provide the education to folks who want to deter them from their properties – tell them about the netting over individual plants and bushes, deterrents such as certain soaps…” She suggested an article on how to deer proof your garden. Here’s an excerpt an article on deer proofing your garden:

Fence individual plants. If you don’t want to fence your whole garden, fence individual plants instead. I have a few non-deer-resistant plants that I just can’t bear to part with. So, rather than replacing them, I just keep a layer of deer/bird netting over them at all times. My Hinoki cypress, for example, is constantly surrounded by deer netting. I also have a hydrangea that belonged to my grandmother that’s always under the protection of deer netting. I save this method for the most-treasured plants in my deer proof gardens.

Another resident wrote on https://groups.io/g/Hpnjnews/topics:

Deer are the ultimate renewable resource, at least at the levels that people want to eat deer? If the hunting is restricted to those who will eat their harvest, why would anyone have a problem? We let Eskimos do this with whales, and those are even endangered.

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If you want to participate in the Highland Park Community Chat, you can join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hpcommunitychat

You can also respond to the questions of urban density, time limits, and deer on the HP NJ News Forum:
https://groups.io/g/Hpnjnews/topics