Mayor comes out against short-term rentals

It’s still just in the discussion phase but Chester Village Mayor Christopher Battiato proclaimed at this week’s village board meeting that he opposes short-term rentals in the village of Chester. At last month’s meeting, Trustee Alan Battiato said the same thing. That makes two out of five board members on record supporting the ban of short-term rentals.

In the meantime, building inspector John Orr said he is researching the rules in other towns and how such properties are regulated to avoid loud disturbances, which some in the community have complained about. The board said they are not yet ready to bring the matter to a public hearing, but progress is being made to that point.

During the July 8 meeting, a detective from the police department detailed the PD’s new security camera system made possible by a grant they received last month. The plan is to put cameras on light poles at The Castle and Chester Mall. The camera at Chester Mall will allow full 360-degree mobility while The Castle camera will be used as a license plate tracker. No tickets can be given out for activity picked up by the cameras, but they can be used to ascertain information in traffic accidents.

Sergeant Gene Iannuzzi was sitting in for Chief Tim McGuire at the board meeting. He reported 56 arrests in the past month by village police, including 31 for suspended licenses and 13 for suspended registrations. Also reported was one DWI, one violation of an order of protection, one harassment, and two felonies. The village police gave out 461 tickets in June.

The board voted to declare a day off on October 25, 2024, for records retention. The mayor also mentioned the village had received a resolution from the Town of Chester regarding the potential closure of Exit 127 on Route 17. All agreed it would be a calamity for local traffic to see the exit closed and village officials said they would consider writing their own resolution on the matter.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to fix the building inspector’s name.