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Chester council approves zoning change for smoke shops and passes five resolutions, including Vision Zero and a $3 million grant request
Summary
The City of Chester Council on July 9 approved an ordinance to permit smoke shops and tobacco stores by conditional use in parts of the city and adopted five resolutions, including a Vision Zero safety commitment and authorization to seek up to $3 million in multimodal grant funding.
The City of Chester Council on July 9, 2025 approved Ordinance No. 3 of 2025, which amends Part 13 (planning and zoning) of the city code to permit smoke shops and tobacco stores in the Central Business District (CBD) and Medium Industrial Commercial (MIC) district by conditional use and to define related terms and conditional‑use criteria. The ordinance passed on its second and final reading.
Councilmembers also voted to adopt five resolutions that night. They approved an honorary street renaming for Reverend Doctor E. Irvin Millsaps, adopted a Vision Zero commitment to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2050, authorized a multimodal transportation fund grant application not to exceed $3,000,000 and designated the mayor and city clerk to execute related documents, authorized the Chester Economic Development Authority (CEDA) to apply for Keystone Communities Enterprise Zone designation, and approved a cooperation agreement to support a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) subapplication for the SilverCare Behavioral and Memory Rehabilitation Project.
Why it matters: The zoning change creates a new path for smoke shop and tobacco retailing in several commercial districts through conditional‑use review, potentially changing where such businesses may locate. The multimodal grant request and Vision Zero commitment signal council support for pedestrian and roadway safety projects and the East Coast Greenway improvements. The enterprise zone and RACP cooperation are economic development tools the city and CEDA will use to pursue state tax credits and grant funding.
Key votes and motions - Ordinance No. 3 of 2025 (zoning: smoke shops/tobacco stores) — mover/second: not specified in record; recorded votes: Councilor Green: Yes; Davis: Yes; Gibson Williams: Yes; outcome: approved (second/final reading). - Resolution to install an honorary street sign naming a portion of Central Avenue at West Sema Street “Reverend Dr. E. Irvin Millsaps Way” — outcome: approved. - Vision Zero resolution (commit to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2050) — outcome: approved. - Resolution authorizing application for a Commonwealth Financing Authority multimodal transportation fund grant, not to exceed $3,000,000, and designating the mayor and city clerk to execute documents — outcome: approved. Designated officials named in the resolution: Mayor Stefan Routes; City Clerk Candice Newsome (as recorded in the meeting text). - Resolution authorizing the Chester Economic Development Authority (CEDA) to file a Keystone Communities Enterprise Zone designation application and to administer the program on the city’s behalf — outcome: approved. - Resolution approving a cooperation agreement with SilverCare Skilled Nursing LLC and SilverCare Real Estate LLC in connection with a proposed RACP award for the SilverCare Behavioral and Memory Rehabilitation Project and authorizing the mayor or designee to execute the agreement — outcome: approved.
Vote procedure and comment: Most items were moved, seconded, and adopted with recorded “yes” votes from Councilors Green, Davis and Gibson Williams. Little debate is shown in the transcript for the listed items; council called for any questions or comments before each vote but none or only brief remarks were recorded.
Next steps: City staff were authorized to execute grant applications and cooperation agreements where noted; the public works department was authorized to order and install the honorary street sign.
