Chester opens public hearing on draft comprehensive plan; hearing continued to July 8

The Town of Chester Board opened a public hearing on a draft comprehensive plan and related zoning amendments and environmental review, receiving extended public comment and agreeing to continue the hearing to July 8 to correct a notice issue.

Town counsel opened the hearing with a procedural summary and legal context, saying the board had declared itself lead agency for the environmental review and that a written response to prior public comments is available on the town website. The attorney noted a separate legal opinion on religious uses by special counsel Harris Beach Murtha and said the town retained special counselrecommendations on special-permit review for religious uses.

Supervisor (role) read highlights of the draft plan, saying it would "ban data centers and large scale battery storage facilities," institute the town's first special-use permit framework, tighten land-disturbance permitting and update standards for day cares, religious institutions, bed-and-breakfasts and solar projects, and rezone several Lake Station Road parcels from industrial to SR-2 suburban residential. The supervisor said red-line edits and a response-to-comments addendum are posted online.

Public commenters raised a mix of planning, safety and enforcement concerns. Tracy Chu, speaking for the Preservation Collective, urged continued oversight after adoption and argued the board "must stay on top of this and not just file and move on," saying oversight "cannot be passive." Susan Miller, whose neighborhood borders Lake Station Road, praised the proposed residential zoning and warned that the narrow road cannot safely handle tractor-trailer traffic. Sean O'Brien, speaking remotely, said the rezoning will directly affect adjacent homeowners and asked the board to prioritize neighborhood character and safety.

Monica Tuarag, representing IPA Power, urged the board to consider regional electric-grid needs, arguing battery energy storage can help relieve transmission bottlenecks and citing a regional reliability assessment: "Stabilizing the grid inherently requires dynamic solutions like battery energy storage," she said.

Several commenters requested corrections and additions to historical text and maps in the plan, asked for park and playground updates (including Oak and Chester Commons), and pressed the board on enforcement questions about short-term rentals and Camp Munroe.

Town counsel recommended continuing the hearing because notice to adjoining clerks had not been completed in time; the board approved a motion to continue the public hearing until July 8. The attorney said the board would consider written comments and responses as part of its deliberations and encouraged participants to avoid repeating submitted testimony at the continued hearing.

What happens next: The board set a follow-up public hearing for July 8 to complete the hearing record and allow additional comment. The board and consultants will review submitted comments, posted red-line edits and the written responses before further action.