Chester planning panel recommends approval of new Public Works facility at Second and Pennell

The Chester Planning Commission on Jan. 8 recommended that City Council grant preliminary and final land development approval for a city-sponsored Public Works facility to be built at West Second and Pennell streets.

The commission’s recommendation covers a plan prepared by Colliers Engineering and Design dated Oct. 11, 2024, for a public-works complex on vacant land owned by Chester First Partnership LLC. The project, funded in part with ARPA money, would include a 12,266-square-foot combined garage and office building, a 4,500-square-foot salt shed, a 4,500-square-foot covered maintenance area, and paved parking for employees and service vehicles. The plan also includes electric-vehicle charging capacity and landscaping to meet or exceed the 10% lot landscaping requirement.

Planner Paul Fritz said the city voluntarily submitted the project to the land development review even though “Per section 13-63.15 of the zoning ordinance, the city is exempt from the zoning ordinance for uses or structures owned by the City or municipal authorities,” because of the public funding and to allow community review. City engineer Dave Schwartz and Colliers staff presented details and said most design elements match the sketch plan the commission reviewed last month.

Why it matters: the project relocates the city’s public-works operations from an older, constrained site and is intended to remove heavy truck storage now using the lot. Proponents said the site work includes stormwater improvements that will reduce runoff: the underground system is designed to infiltrate about 6,500 cubic feet before discharging to the public system.

Supporters and staff said they expect limited off‑site impacts. Andrew Heyman, Chester’s public‑works director, told the commission the facility’s vehicle exhaust and noise levels should be comparable with current operations and that most vehicles will be away from the site for long periods: “I would also say that their operation will almost exclusively be away from this property,” he said. Colliers’ presentation showed fencing and vegetative screening along the south perimeter and stone and metal façade treatment facing Second Street.

Commissioners and members of the public pressed the team on several local concerns: utilities and underground wiring where a sanitary force main prevents construction over parts of the lot; whether an underground-storage-tank history is present (a Phase II environmental assessment was scheduled to verify); lighting and underground wiring for lighting; tree species and placement so roots do not lift sidewalks; vehicle and pedestrian access and coordination with PennDOT for the Route 291 frontage; and potential short-term construction impacts. Staff said they are coordinating final fire-department-connection location and EV-charger placement with the fire marshal and that a Phase II site assessment would confirm whether any historic underground tanks exist.

The planning staff recommended, and a commissioner moved, that the commission recommend City Council grant preliminary and final land development approval of the Chester Public Works facility as presented in the Colliers plan set dated Oct. 11, 2024, conditioned on addressing the remaining comments in the Planning & Zoning review letter (Jan. 3, 2025), the Fire Marshal’s memo (Jan. 7, 2025) and the Chester Shade Tree Commission memo (Jan. 8, 2025). The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote with no nays recorded.

Votes at a glance: the commission also completed its organizational votes at the start of the meeting (those items were procedural): Susan Dennis was elected chair, Leola Williams vice chair and Eartha Banks secretary. Those procedural nominations were carried by voice votes earlier in the session.

Next steps: with the planning commission recommendation, staff said the city will take a resolution to City Council and, if approved, will move the project to bidding and construction; staff estimated a mid- to late‑spring 2025 start if permitting and bidding proceed on schedule.

Residents who spoke asked about view impacts, potential dust or odors, overnight lighting, traffic interactions with Route 291 and whether nearby on‑street parking used by Providence Baptist Church would be affected. Presenters said the design reduces the lot’s impervious cover (from about 92% to about 73%), adds screening, and includes an underground stormwater system that, they said, should reduce peak runoff from the parcel.

The project remains subject to the outstanding technical comments flagged by planning staff, the fire marshal and the Shade Tree Commission, which the commission required be resolved as a condition of the recommendation.