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Community Corner

Open Space to Add Walking Trails to Averett

The trails will connect the Chatham Glen condos to Southern Boulevard.

After along Hillside Avenue, River Road, Fairmount Avenue and Southern Boulevard, the Open Space Committee decided to add thin walking trails to the wooded area known as the Averett property.

"The township is very excited to have acquired the 17-acre property of forested and hilly land for public access and enjoyment as a series of trails for health, exercise and pleasure," Joe Basralian, the Chair of the Open Space Committee, said after the committee's meeting on Monday evening.

The project will also include a sidewalk from the section of River Road from the entrance of Chatham Glen up to Southern Boulevard and all the way up Fairmount Avenue.

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"Maybe the most exciting aspect is that we'll be connecting the highly-populated Chatham Glen communities of condominiums and townhouses, which is more than one quarter of the units in Chatham," Basralian said.

The next step, Basralian said, is to organize a walk-through with the Chatham Township Committee, some experts and any interested members of the public in an effort to plan trails for the area.

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"We don't have a date yet (for the walk-though)," Basralian said. "Anyone who's interested can contact the Open Space Committee at glaconte@chathamtownship.org attention Open Space."

Basralian said this project is the "most immediate priority of the Open Space Committee."

"The beauty of a forested or wooded area is that it provides clean water," he said. "A lot of the rainfall gets filtered by all the roots system, the complex soils of the forest, on its way down to the Passaic River, so it's a tremendous service in keeping our water clean. The trees and the woods provide a sanctuary to observe wildlife. We'd leave it wooded and beautiful, the only thing we would do is create some thin walking trails. Everything would be the same but now people can get in and enjoy it."

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