Our Town First

10/18/2026

Their posts say “Keeping Andover rural.”

But that's not what they say at the meetings. 🎥

Vote Tuesday, November 3.

10/16/2026

💰 The Skylands Victory PAC has given more than $10,000 to the Howell, Walsh & Mosner campaign.

This PAC has raised questions about it's political agenda since it started in 2010. Back in 2015, the NJ Herald wrote that critics saw its w**e cellar dinner as “the embodiment of an insider culture in Sussex County.” In Byram, Harvey Roseff called a PAC attack mailer against his running mate “an outside group influencing Byram’s non-partisan elections.”

🚧 Over $5,000 of the money in this year's Andover race went to website services. On that website, the incumbents make a big point of putting Andover residents first. They write that “developers may advocate for their projects” and that everyone is entitled to be heard, “but none of them replaces the residents of Andover Township.”

We couldn’t have said it better. So why is their campaign being funded by those with development interests?

✅ Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Please vote, and think about who these candidates really answer to.

10/10/2026

Five Steps to Our Future Success

Since you do NOT support superscale AI data centers and question a warehouse the size of eleven football fields (before the parking lot), what do you support?

📖 The answer is simple. We support the guidelines laid out in Andover Township’s 2023 Master Plan Reexamination. Within this document are numerous permitted uses - all having the potential for success if built to appropriate scale and scope. These guidelines are a roadmap for Andover’s future success as it redefines its long-term growth objectives in a sustainable manner.

📊 The better questions - what are appropriate businesses to ease the future tax burden without detrimental impacts to our infrastructure, schools and environment, and how do we immediately address costs today?

🎓 Step one is education. Some people do not realize that the Township Committee only has control over approximately 28% of our property taxes. Over 55% is managed by the school board and the remainder is apportioned to the County. So when a suggested ratable promises to ease the municipal budget by millions under a PILOT program, residents must understand that even a municipal offset of 100% would still only bring your tax bill down by less than a third. This is assuming that there are zero increases to infrastructure needs, essential services or annual cost of living adjustments. This is coupled with potential increased energy costs, surrounding property devaluation and a host of other environmental and safety issues that come with large scale projects on sensitive land with vital resources. The windfall that will single handedly “save” Andover is a fallacy.

🔎 Step two is transparency. Leaders are elected to make thoughtful and informed choices guided by those they represent. Budget meetings should lay out operating costs and necessary capital expenditures in plain language with proper notice to the residents, clear explanations of what is proposed, and what it means for their wallets. Not all expenses are bad. We are grateful for many services in our town that improve our quality of life, make us safer, and add benefits; we collectively agree to pay more to continue to enjoy them. Where there are more affordable alternatives to fixed costs or when cuts are needed, each should be openly explored. Details matter to people. Even relatively insignificant savings add up. This is not the Committees’ money- it belongs to the taxpayers. If they have questions, the Committee needs to provide answers.

🏞️ Step three is creating an identity for the future. This cannot happen overnight and will take insight and planning for future growth. Andover Township and surrounding municipalities are rich with natural resources and enable residents to enjoy beautiful landscapes, abundant outdoor activities, and rural character in a very active, densely populated state. Chasing constant ratable growth without respect for what makes the town desirable is contrary to why people love to live here. We cannot pave paradise and think that the consequences are reversible. But we can embrace growth that prospers within it.

🥾 For example, could we explore options that complement the landscape such as ecotourism businesses or leisure and recreation alternatives- would a sports and wellness complex benefit residents’ lifestyle and the town’s bottom line? Can we find a niche for the growing film industry in New Jersey? Can we further encourage services that raise the living experience or convenience for residents while adding value to existing properties? Can we collaborate with adjoining towns to create a development plan across borders driving the same sustainable theme?

⚠️ Developers are heavily investing in local candidate campaigns that want to sell to those who build on a large scale without regard for the limited infrastructure to support it or the natural resources permanently lost. They don’t have a vision for Andover, just for profit. However, if we have a development goal that scales properly and builds appropriately (especially since we do not have unlimited acreage), we all benefit financially. We welcome the conversation with those business people and investors.

🤝 Step four is working with our existing small businesses to create a supportive environment (perhaps through a small business advisory committee) - sharing ideas, exploring potential for growth, cutting red tape and thriving with town guidance. We want to say yes to our cottage industries and encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. Variety and ingenuity only strengthen our economic ecosystem. A system of many small stable businesses adds collective value. It's not the quick hit out of the park, it’s the slow and steady that evolves and sustains.

🔁 Step five is constantly reevaluating the plan and pivoting when necessary. One of the biggest hurdles many small towns face is relying upon the one big ratable. If the proverbial mill goes down, the town suffers. There must be proactive planning that limits reactive future decision-making. Industry will come and go as technology advances. The larger the building the more limited the alternative end-user pool. We must think in terms of functionality when and if an existing use is obsolete or cost-prohibitive. Flexibility in choices such as industrial parks with smaller clustered buildings that are easier to repurpose and commercial space with multiple tenants provides the ability to pivot when necessary.

💡We promise to work collectively with our fellow Committee members for a new vision of economic prosperity in Andover Township. We want to bring smart planning, encourage innovation, and maintain fiscal responsibility for the future we choose.

Cynthia Chase and Nicole Guerrieri -- Our Town First for Andover Township Committee

10/08/2026

The League of Women Voters of Sussex Highlands has published its nonpartisan 2026 Sussex County Voters Guide, with valuable tools like checking your voter registration status, deadlines for registration and mail-in ballots, and early voting dates: https://sussexhighlandsnj.lwv.org/2026-voter-guide

There is also a voter's guide for each municipality whose candidates were invited to respond to questions. Check out Andover Township's Voters Guide here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hZNGhmtW3DoKz-fNlWnv9L2RETmwGFCe/view

We are grateful for the opportunity to share some of our thoughts along with all of the candidates running for Andover Township Committee.

Empowering voters and defending democracy in Sussex Highlands, New Jersey. Join us for local advocacy and community education.

10/06/2026

There is only ONE week left to register to vote in the 2026 General Election. Get registered or update your registration before the deadline on Tuesday, October 13, at Vote.NJ.Gov.

10/05/2026

Have you spotted us around town yet? Our small grassroots movement is building momentum! With 29 days to Election Day, be sure to keep an eye out for us - on the ballot in your mailbox, on a lawn sign in your neighbor's yard, or at your doorstep! We spent the weekend knocking doors and enjoyed getting to know more of you! We truly appreciate the positive welcoming discussions we've had and one thing is strikingly clear - we can disagree, but it's the way in which we treat those that disagree with us that matters. We look forward to continued opportunities to connect. Reach out if you'd like us to stop by or drop off a free lawn sign for you.

10/03/2026

A Cautionary Tale:

🏡 How does a small township with rural character, vital environmental resources, and one lane roads end up with an approved site plan for industrial construction measuring hundreds of thousands of square feet in size? The answer is a bit more complex than what will be explained, but the simple truth is that it took planning and conversations among elected officials and the developers who wanted it to happen as part of the Redevelopment Zone Plan.

📋 In April of 2023, Andover Township’s Master Plan Reexamination Report was published. Its purpose, according to New Jersey Statute, is to ensure that current development regulations within the municipality align with its goals, and recommend changes to be implemented. This report specifically addresses warehouses and recommends that their size be limited to conform more clearly to the goals of the master plan. It further highlights that due to a lack of centralized infrastructure that is costly to implement with scarce resources, zoning for small planned industrial parks would be a more suitable option so that its impact can be absorbed. Mega warehouses were distinctly discouraged as an option. The Township paid for this reexamination to use as a guideline for their decisions, to zone accordingly, and to choose projects that complement the town’s goals.

One month later, in May 2023, National Land Developers presented a concept plan to the Township Land Use Board. The plan was explained as two industrial warehouses totaling over 700,000 square feet. There was no application or end user in place. The purpose of this presentation was merely to propose such an option for the parcel on Stickles Pond Road. This is not an unusual function of the Board - who asked questions and performed their responsibilities. However, this is where the idea of a very large scale industrial warehouse was born, contrary to the aforementioned Master Plan Reexamination Report.

Shortly thereafter, in June of 2023, a Town ordinance was introduced and subsequently approved to include warehouses as an additional permitted use within the Redevelopment Zone. This was always the intent according to the ordinance and based upon reports, but now it was codified. The stage was set.

📊 Fast forward again to summer of 2024. The Land Use Board reported the results of a survey sent out to residents regarding what they want for Andover Township in accordance with the Master Plan. According to the minutes of the June 18, 2024 meeting, residents' responses included a need for commercial space, but specifically said FEWER warehouses and more passive entertainment open space such as walking trails, community gardens and dog parks. This is what residents want.

📦 Yet, around this same time, summer of 2024, National Land Developers was back with a completed application for a proposed 650,000+ square foot warehouse at the same location and a proposed end user - a furniture storage and shipping warehouse. In October of 2024, the applicant presented to the Land Use Board.

🚛 The size of this facility is arguably larger than the vast majority of projects within the township, designed with 130 docking bays for tractor trailers and approximately 100 employees. A traffic study was conducted for one day and it was deemed that a minor change to one traffic light would sufficiently mitigate increased traffic congestion. 80 tractor trailers and 100 employees on Stickles Pond Road, Route 206, and arguably other one lane town roads? A 4 second light delay will do the trick? There was no study done to evaluate the effects of an additional 80 diesel engines daily in an environmentally sensitive area with over 20 acres of wetlands adjacent and the Pequest considerations. There would be no security guard presence but agreed to create a parking area for local Andover Township police to monitor traffic given the increased volume and potential danger.

⚠️ Additionally, the applicant would need relief from necessary steep slope disturbances and other waivers for their design. This meeting was held in accordance with legal requirements but with little additional notification or social media attention and subsequently almost no public participation or commentary. Yet, despite the size, scope and magnitude of the project, the preliminary and final site plan were approved - in one evening - on one of the largest industrial warehouse projects the town would have to date.

❓ There has been some question as to whether the proposed end user was even still interested in the property at the time of the presentation and approval. We do not know. However, despite the fact that the furniture distributor did not end up building this warehouse, the approval still exists. National Land Developers was now free to market the property touting Andover as a pro development town with approved plans for an enormous warehouse and 40+ million in potential tax savings to the end user over 30 years with a PILOT program.

⏳ Presently, the owner of the property has asked for an extension of their final site plan approval for an additional year. The approval for a warehouse still exists indefinitely. The extension insulates them from any zoning changes moving forward that would limit or change the scope of the existing plans.

🗳️ This is a cautionary tale: who you elect matters. Transparency, open communication, and a willingness to work with residents matters. Working within the confines of existing town studies and recommendations that were thoughtfully researched matters. Taking responsibility and fixing mistakes without claiming victory or spinning the narrative matters. That is why we are running - to put Our Town First.

- Cynthia Chase and Nicole Guerrieri for Andover Township Committee

09/21/2026

☔️ It may have been a rainy day but spirits were high at Sussex County Day!

🌞 We look forward to making sure Andover Township has a presence next year, like many other municipalities, celebrating all we have to offer to Experience the Good Life!

09/20/2026

🤔 How’s the Campaign Going?

We get asked that question a lot. So, we’d like to share our experience so far.

🏡 The campaign is both inspiring and challenging, but we are humbled by the support we’ve received and grateful to be a part of the process. Motivated by love for our town and a desire to bring a renewed energy and fresh ideas to our local government, we continue to move forward one neighbor, one resident, one voter at a time.

🤝 We are a small grassroots campaign that mobilized when a proposed data center posed potential long-term, catastrophic consequences to the quality of life in our community. We stay committed and motivated because the challenges continue. Though we recognize that growth is desirable and inevitable, how it happens is more important than trying the quick fix solutions with big developer promises that are not guaranteed.

🚦 After speaking with many residents from various political affiliations, we’ve learned that, on the local level, we agree more often than not. We all want responsible growth that conforms to the infrastructure of our area. We all recognize that we are the caretakers of vital environmental resources that cannot be replaced once paved over or extracted. We all want accountability and transparency from those in charge of our money. We agree.

💬 New voices are so important. We are not part of the small inside group who have been elected without challenge for decades because we registered with a specific party, or those who have been appointed to their position without ever having to campaign, or those who have connections and family conflicts that force them to abstain from Committee votes. We are candidates who bring a sincere desire to step up and help our community prosper. We are professionals who can lend new insight. We are the candidates who can be held accountable from day one and not only after we face competition.

❤️ Thank you to everyone who has spoken with us and offered their perspective. We continue to encourage residents to reach out. We’d love to speak with you. If we knock on your door, please know it’s only to meet you, introduce ourselves and get the chance to hear what matters most to you. Ultimately, we hope that you share our philosophy of “Our Town First.”

-- Cynthia Chase & Nicole Guerrieri, Our Town First for Andover Township Committee

09/14/2026

🎉 What an incredible turnout for our town!

Thank you so much to our friends, families and neighbors who showed up to support our efforts to bring change to Andover. We’re so grateful to all of you and empowered by the momentum our campaign has gathered over the past few weeks.

Special thank you to Angry Erik Brewing and their team for hosting us!