Two projects inch forward at latest planning board meeting

The June 5 Chester Town Planning Board meeting began with an agreement to push the July 3 meeting of the board to July 17 because July 3 is too close to the July 4 holiday. The board then heard from the representatives of two projects that have been under board review.

A four-lot subdivision proposal at 1414 Kings Highway between Well Sweep and Pewter Lane in Sugar Loaf has made progress, with applicants answering questions brought by the board. It is now able to receive a negative SEQRA declaration. However, one major issue remains unsettled — what to do with a drainage pond that is currently zoned as its own parcel.

The preference of the applicant and the board is for the Sugar Loaf Homeowner’s Association, which controls property adjacent to the drainage pond, to assume ownership of the property. However, they have yet to agree to this. Other options include leaving it under the ownership of the applicant group or adding it to the property of the third lot.

This remains an open question and something that must be settled before the project receives final approval. In the meantime, the board said it is still willing to move forward with negative SEQRA declaration paperwork in advance of a July 17 public hearing about the project.

Also noted at the meeting was that the applicants have forged ahead with a plan to put a proposed sidewalk on Pewter Lane in front of the two lots on that street. The applicants also received a note from the DEC confirming their project would not interfere with bog turtle habitat.

Also coming before the board was 193 BMD, LLC, a proposed 25,000-square-foot addition to an existing warehouse on 193 Black Meadow Rd. This project had already received a negative SEQRA declaration and a public hearing in 2022. It is scheduled for final approval on July 17, pending the answering of a handful of questions by the town planning board.