Chester to pick among zoning options

CHESTER — The Chester village board will decide among three zoning options on Monday, Nov. 3, after two more public hearings to be held that same night.

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

Some residents say voting immediately after a hearing is disrespectful to members of the public who have come out to express their opinions.

"One hearing at 6:30 and the other at 6:45?" says an online comment posted under a recent story about the zoning proposals (http://bit.ly/1DxPqBi). "A 15-minute hearing hardly makes a public input meeting...and then you plan to vote for one of the three right after? Why don't you just come right out and say the public's opinion doesn't mean a thing to you! You shouldn't vote for anything immediately following a public hearing, it gives the impression that your minds have already been made up. It smacks of impropriety! It's wrong! And why the rush?"

The changes will affect all future development, including the 61 acres recently annexed to the village to accommodate the proposed BT Holdings condominium development behind the Shoprite plaza.

All three proposals include land banking, in which developers may hold some open land aside — that is, bank it — until demand requires more spaces.

The above chart includes highlights of the three options. The full version of each law is on the village website: villageofchesterny.com.