Itir Cole Haddonfield Commissioner

06/15/2026

Happy pride to all those who celebrate!

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🩵🤍🩷🤎🩶🖤

06/10/2026

A brief update on the Bancroft project:

Before we can transfer this property to Woodmont for them to begin construction, they need to secure approvals from the town, the state, the county, and multiple environmental and historic preservation agencies, each with their own process and timeline. We can't rush through any of these steps, and honestly, that's probably a good thing. Each step is a chance to make sure this project is done right.

The checklist published by the Borough shows exactly where things stand and what still needs to happen, and we're happy to keep you all informed as there's progress.

Redevelopment Update

The redevelopment at the former Bancroft site continues to move through the required state and local review process. Woodmont recently completed its technical review with the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), where it presented updated architectural renderings and design materials.

Before moving forward with the HPC application, Woodmont has requested a technical review with the Borough’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), scheduled for Wednesday, June 10. They will take comments they receive from HPC and SHPO into consideration and develop a formal certificate of appropriateness application for HPC and a site plan application for the Borough’s Planning Board.

A technical review at the state and local levels involves each reviewing entity examining the same project materials against its own historic preservation standards to confirm consistency with the requirements at that level, while providing input to be considered before formal applications are submitted.
The Borough will continue to provide updates as Woodmont moves through each stage of review, and we have created a checklist of the approval process for the application on our website:
https://haddonfieldnj.org/about_our_town/redevelopment/bancroft/index.php

06/08/2026

Calling all tech-savvy teenagers!

Mabel Kay Senior Center is bringing back Tech Tuesday this summer and we'd love your help.

Every Tuesday in July & August, 9am–noon, teen volunteers sit down one-on-one with seniors and help them navigate technology: phones, tablets, laptops, deleting emails, building photo albums, setting up apps, video calling family. The skills you use every day without thinking twice can be genuinely life-changing for someone else.

Last summer was a huge success. The teens were fantastic, and both sides walked away better for the relationships they built. The seniors have already been asking when the sessions are coming back.

Not every teen can commit to all three hours every week, and that's okay. Come when you can, as consistently as you can.

Sign-ups aren't ready yet but wanted to get this on your radar as you start planning your summer.

If you know an interested teen, message Sheri Siegel at [email protected] and please share with any families who have a young person looking for a meaningful way to give back this summer.

06/05/2026

05/25/2026

On days like this, the only thing I feel is truly worthwhile to share is my gratitude and that of our community for those who signed up, who took on the fighting for the ideals we hold so dear. And for their families, for whom loss is not a historical footnote but a daily personal pain.

During last year’s ceremony I had read a passage from the Gettysburg Address (Lincoln's words honoring the fallen) and I come back to them every year. I think they say what needs to be said perfectly:

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced… that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion… that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

That word “unfinished” stays with me I think because it places something (a responsibility) on the rest of us, even many generations later.

So for those of us here who are civilians: My ask is that today that you don’t just treat the day as a day off with passive gratitude. We're in a moment right now where these decisions of who fights, and why feel very real and very close. So the question of what we do with that isn't abstract anymore. Which makes the question more urgent: how do we, personally, uphold the ideals these soldiers died for? That includes what we demand of our leaders and what we are willing to pay attention to. The least we owe them is that.

05/24/2026

Doesn’t look like weather is going to cooperate tomorrow. We’re canceling the parade and moving the ceremony to borough hall starting at 10am.

Due to the weather, the Memorial Day ceremonies have been moved inside to the Borough Hall Auditorium.
No parade.
The ceremony will begin at 10:00 AM on May 25.
Downtown Haddonfield
Haddonfield Police Dept.
Haddon Fire Company No. 1
Frank Troy Haddonfield Commissioner
Itir Cole Haddonfield Commissioner
Dave Siedell Haddonfield Commissioner

05/07/2026

It takes a village to run a village. Happy Public Service Recognition Week! Thank you for showing up, day in and day out. Haddonfield works because you do.

It’s Public Service Recognition Week, and we’re celebrating the dedicated public servants who keep the Borough running every day.

We gathered as many Borough staff members as we could for a quick photo, a small snapshot of the many people who serve our community with professionalism and care.

We appreciate every member of our Borough team!

05/02/2026

The fam and I will be trying our hand at making paper tomorrow. Come join us!

Haddonfield is celebrating America’s 250th Birthday with Historic Saturday events in Kings Court.

❤️🔜 First up on Saturday, May 2, 10 AM–2 PM: Historic RittenhouseTown demonstrates colonial papermaking. Learn the craft, make your own paper, and take home what you create.

Every Saturday from May to September is FREE and family‑friendly.

Visit www.haddonfield2026.com to learn about ALL events!

Visit South Jersey
Haddonfield Public Library
Indian King Tavern Museum
Historic RittenhouseTown
Revolution NJ

03/10/2026

If you or someone you know is a Haddonfield senior, this one is worth showing up for.

This Wednesday, March 11, the Mabel Kay Senior Center is hosting their "Something to Chew on" lunch program with a presentation from Megan Giordano in our tax office. Megan will walk through the PAS-1, New Jersey's property tax relief application for seniors, and stay to help people fill it out.

The PAS-1 is the blue booklet the state mails to seniors each year. It's a single form that covers three different relief programs at once: Senior Freeze, ANCHOR, and Stay NJ. A lot of people who qualify never apply because the form feels intimidating. This is your chance to sit down with someone from the borough's own tax office and get it done.

Lunch runs 12:30 to 1, presentation from 1 to 2. You need to RSVP so they know how much food to order — reach out to [email protected]. Check the Mabel Kay Senior Center's post for the full list of documents to bring.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CHLzLXLWA/
cc: Mabel Kay Senior Center; Borough of Haddonfield

Please join Megan Giordano from Haddonfield’s tax office at the center’s Something to Chew on lunch and speaker program, Wednesday, March 11. Lunch is from 12:30 to 1 and Megan will present and help from 1-2p. Those that want help filling out their applications please bring the appropriate materials, listed in the comments below. Replies are required, so we know how much food to order [email protected]

03/10/2026

Tonight's special meeting was all about affordable housing, something I care deeply about getting right for Haddonfield.

- Affordable Housing Overlay on Haddon Avenue

We passed an ordinance creating a new zoning overlay along Haddon Avenue, from 807 Haddon Avenue (the office complex near the tracks) to Carl's Sunoco. That includes the former Rite Aid, 7-Eleven, and the Breadboard complex.

This doesn't force anyone to build housing, it just sets the rules if/when they do. If any of those property owners ever want to convert to residential, 20% of the units have to be affordable. We've done this before: the Acme site and TD Bank both have similar overlays from the last round. This is how we make sure that when development happens, it includes people at different income levels.

- Affordable Housing Rulebook Update

Chapter 63 is basically Haddonfield's rulebook for affordable housing (e.g. who qualifies, how units are created, how they're managed.) The state rewrote its version, so we're updating ours to match. Nothing changes in practice. We'll vote on it at the March 23rd meeting.

- 4th Round Housing Plan

The State of New Jersey has been requiring every town to plan for affordable housing since the 1980s. Every few years the state recalculates the targets based on regional need. This is round four. The Planning Board approved our plan last week and tonight we signed off on it.

- Affirmative Action Marketing Plan

When affordable units open up, we can't just post a listing. State law requires us to actively reach out to specific agencies, nonprofits, and communities that haven't always had access to housing like ours. This plan spells out how we do that.

- A few things coming up in the next few weeks:

The farmers' market is moving behind the distillery this year, which opens up King's Court for the whole summer. The borough is planning Saturday programming from May through September with trades demonstrations, music, dance, etc.. Rain or shine. More soon.

Police station ribbon cutting is probably moving to late April. Lots of people have asked about tours and we'll get details out as soon as we have them.

The Governor announces her budget tomorrow, which will affect our numbers. We're aiming to have a draft Haddonfield budget out for review by the end of next week and introduce it in April. Also on the March 23rd agenda: a cap bank ordinance (this lets us carry unused budget capacity forward for up to three years and basically acts as a cushion) and a salary ordinance.

And a FEMA-required floodplain update is coming. It adjusts our 100- and 500-year flood zone maps to match new federal standards. Already approved at the state level.

Hope you’re enjoying the weather! Drop questions below.