Sugar Loaf businesses granted new signage
Chester. Proposed moratorium may further delay six-lot subdivision plan.
| 11 Mar 2024 | 04:51
The proposed signage for Jimmy’Z Jewelry.
Two businesses are looking to increase foot traffic in the Hamlet of Sugar Loaf. Proprietors from both Whimsy & Willow, an event production studio, and Jimmy’Z Jewelry, a full-service jeweler, went before the Chester Town Planning Board during the March 6 meeting to request approval for new signage to adorn their location at 62 Wood Road off Kings Highway, a commercial location with several other businesses. Both designs were unanimously approved by the board.
Laura Bonet of Warwick presented Whimsy & Willow’s application and design scheme to the board. The design plan for Jimmy’Z Jewelry, which has also been in business in Manhattan since 1994, was presented by Florence Zaitoun of Chester.
Oak Woods subdivision
Later in the meeting, a six-lot cluster subdivision, under Oak Woods Subdivision, LLC, that’s been in the works since 2020 was reintroduced to the board by both the law firm of Cuddy & Feder, and Ryan Smithem from the Mercurio-Norton-Tarolli-Marshall engineering firm. Over the past four years the property developers have been conducting necessary tests and evaluations on the lot. Cuddy & Feder representative Alec Gladd noted that there have been soil percolation tests, and the examination of wetlands.
The subdivision sits on approximately 26.9 acres off Trout Brook Rd., though 13.4 of them are considered a conservation area containing wetlands, and therefore will not be developed. The proposal notes that all subdivisions will include a private driveway that lets out onto Camp Monroe Road, and each lot will also have its own septic system and well. The representatives showed plans that remained largely unchanged from those back in 2020. Most notably, the new plan had moved certain driveways in order to minimize wetland disturbance.
The planning board did mention that if the town’s building moratorium takes effect, which could prohibit the construction of residential structures with five or more dwellings for six months, the applicants would not be able to begin construction until the moratorium ends.