Montclair Is Decided in Public.
Your taxes, your streets, your trees, and the building going up next door are all settled in rooms you are entitled to sit in. Here is which room, which night, and what happens when you raise your hand.
Every body on this page meets in public, posts its agenda in advance, and is required to take comment from residents. None of it requires an appointment, a credential, or an invitation.
The most powerful body in town
If it becomes law in Montclair, it passed here.
The Council is Montclair's governing body. It passes ordinances, approves the municipal budget, hires the Township Manager, attorney, and clerk, and sets policy on everything from tree removals to development.
Council meetings include dedicated public comment periods. If you can't attend, written comments emailed to the full Council go into the record.
Agendas · Past and live video on the Montclair Government YouTube channel and TV34
Big-picture land use
How the town is allowed to grow.
The Planning Board owns the Master Plan — the blueprint for how Montclair develops. It reviews site plans and subdivisions, proposes changes to the zoning ordinance, and can grant bulk variances tied to development applications.
Think: larger development projects, redevelopment plans, and changes to how land is used across the township.
Speaking hereThe board holds formal public hearings on specific applications. When a project comes before it, you have the right to testify — to question the applicant's professionals directly, to raise traffic or environmental impacts, or simply to state support or opposition. Your comments become part of the record the board is obligated to consider. Read the agenda in advance so you know which applications are being heard and can arrive prepared.
Monthly. Municipal Building, 205 Claremont Ave.
Meeting schedule
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Agendas, minutes & video
Case by case
Where the exceptions get granted.
The Zoning Board hears individual property cases where an owner is asking for an exception to the zoning code — a building that's too tall, a use the zone doesn't permit, a lot that doesn't meet size requirements. It also hears appeals when an owner disputes a zoning enforcement decision.
Think: your neighbor wants a third story; a developer wants to build something the code doesn't allow.
Speaking hereEach application gets a public hearing. If a variance affects your property or your block, you may speak, question the applicant, and submit evidence. Neighbors near a project are typically notified by mail — if a notice arrives, don't set it aside. That letter is the invitation. Comments carry real weight in this room: the board is required to weigh impact on the surrounding area as part of its decision.
Monthly. Municipal Building, 205 Claremont Ave.
Meeting schedule
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Agendas, minutes, audio & video
Where policy gets shaped before it arrives
These bodies are advisory. They don't pass laws or grant approvals on their own — they write the recommendations that reach the Council. Which makes attending them one of the most direct ways to influence a decision while it can still be changed.
Montclair Environmental Commission
Guides the Council on reducing carbon emissions, building climate resilience, advancing environmental justice, and protecting the living environment.
Historic Preservation Commission
Reviews proposed changes to historically designated properties and districts. If you care about Montclair's architectural character, this is the room.
Housing Commission
Affordable housing policy, housing stock, and the needs of Montclair's residents. Relevant to anyone concerned with displacement and affordability.
Civil Rights Commission
Civil rights concerns and equity issues affecting Montclair residents. Meets publicly and welcomes community input.
Landlord-Tenant Advisory Committee
Advises the Council on landlord-tenant issues, rent control, and housing conditions. Especially relevant to renters and to the landlords who house them.
Complete Streets Oversight Board
Monitors implementation of the Complete Streets plan, which governs how roads, sidewalks, and bike infrastructure get designed and prioritized.
Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee
Parks programming, open space, and recreation facilities — how Montclair's green spaces are managed and maintained.
Every board and commission meeting appears on one calendar. The full list of bodies is on the Township site.
Want to do more than attend? Residents can serve on these bodies, and seats open up regularly. Call the Township Clerk's office at 973-509-4900 to ask what's available.
Ordinance or resolution?
You'll hear both words in the same meeting. They are not the same thing.
An ordinance
is a local law. It permanently changes the municipal code — zoning rules, wildlife management policy, tax regulations. It requires two readings at two separate meetings before it can pass.
A resolution
is a decision or a directive. It doesn't change the law; it authorizes a specific action — approving a contract, accepting a grant, taking an official position. It can pass in a single meeting.
Why this matters for you: an ordinance carries a mandatory public hearing at its second reading. That hearing is your window to speak before a law is finalized, and it is the single most consequential three minutes available to a resident. Resolutions generally carry no hearing — but you can still raise them during general public comment.
Watch it anyway
Meetings stream live and on demand on the Montclair Government YouTube channel and on TV34, and many board and commission meetings are archived there as well. Agendas post in advance — read one before each meeting and you'll know what's on the table and which nights are worth your evening.
Ten reasons to start attending town meetings
You can't sleep at night knowing that the 2025 budget has an “Other Expenses” line that jumped 21% in one year. Nobody will explain what that is unless you ask. At a meeting. Into a microphone.
You understand that ecocide and environmental injustice happen one small local decision at a time. And those trees can't get themselves to Town Council. So you go.
You like catching typos. The town projects it will need $125 million by 2029 — up from $108 million today. That is not a typo.
You learn new words for things. Like “unitasker.” And you didn't know we have plow trucks from 1988, or that we spent $300,000 on a new log truck.
Your life is busy enough. But what happens at these meetings happens to you.
You may not have an opinion about Lackawanna, but you have one about paying $400 for new tires because of an unfilled pothole, and another about the 100-plus residents erroneously hit with sidewalk violations.
You have opinions about things and you are tired of keeping them to yourself. See #5.
You want to meet neighbors who care. Who really care.
You get to externalize all your feelings about affordability and gentrification onto local government, where they belong.
Nobody is coming to save this town. That's not pessimism — it's an invitation. Want change? Attend town meetings. You are not nobody.
Further reading: Our Town.
Neighbors who care
Join our Facebook group, our forum, and follow us on Instagram. Or write to us directly: sustainablemontclair@gmail.com.
Sustainable Montclair · sustainablemontclair@gmail.com · Montclair, New Jersey
An independent environmental advocacy organization. Not affiliated with the Township
of Montclair. Meeting times, locations, and procedures are drawn from the Township's
published materials and are subject to change — check the posted agenda before
you go.