More hearings on zoning changes scheduled

CHESTER — The Village of Chester now has three zoning revision proposals to pick from, with two more public hearings on the changes to be held at a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The board will vote for one of the options immediately following the public hearings. A zone designation will also be applied to the BT Holdings property.

The three versions share many similarities. But, as one resident said, “The devil is in the details.” Several residents who have attended most meetings on the proposed changes agreed the choices are confusing, even for those who have followed the discussions closely.

The changes will affect the 61-acre site of the proposed BT Holdings development, which was annexed to the village from the town last year, as well as other future development throughout the village.

BT Holdings’ most recent proposal includes hundreds of condos and senior citizen rental units to be built on 68 acres behind the Shoprite plaza. The village annexed most of this land to allow Frank Nussbaum, the developer, to build more intensively. The village has the water needed to supply the proposed new condos, while the town did not.

All three proposals address parking. Land banking, a new concept in planning the parking spaces to be created for each new construction project, is one of the sticking points. Developers may hold some open land aside — that is, bank it — until demand requires more spaces. But who will decide when more spaces should be created? And how will the decision be made?

If a parking study finds that an average of more than 85 percent of parking spaces are being used, the village board may require the provision of additional space, and, in the case of banked land, dictate how much of it should be converted to parking space.

There are also some differences among the three versions regarding the extent of setbacks — the space between the front of a building and the edge of the pavement or sidewalk. The 2013 iteration allows townhouses on private roads to have setbacks as narrow as 20 feet. Later versions would require a minimum of 24 feet.

The public hearing on Proposed Public Law 4 of 2013 has already been held. The hearings on the other two versions will be held on Monday, Nov. 3, at village hall, 47 Main Street, with Law 2 to start at 6:30 p.m. and Law 3 at 6:45 p.m.

For highlights of the three versions of the proposed changes, please see sidebar. For the full version of each law, visit the village website atvillageofchesterny.com.

The regular village board meeting, usually held on the second Monday of the month, has been moved next month to Nov. 10.