Chester Select Board, Planning Commission to hold hearings on land use changes

By Shawn Cunningham
2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The Chester Select Board and the Planning Commission will be holding separate hearings in the next two weeks on proposed changes to the Unified Development Bylaws that land owners will want to pay attention to.

At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3 the Chester Select Board will hold a hearing on adopting a package of 20 proposed amendments to the Development Bylaws. The hearing will be held at Town Hall, 556 Elm St.

The public notice for the hearing says they will affect every zoning district. Most amendments loosen restrictions on businesses and development in minor ways. For example, one amendment raises the number of non-resident employees who can work at a Home Occupation from zero to two while a Home Business would be able to have five non-resident employees, up from four.

The amendments also include clarifications, such as that short-term rentals are regulated by a separate ordinance and cannot have a sign and that smoke and odor are included under the performance standard for air pollution. There are also some amendments that identify “exemptions” from the development bylaws.

Planning to hold hearing on new zoning district for flood zones

At the Planning Commission’s Monday, May 15 meeting, it will discuss not only the proposed Village Center and “Neighborhood” districts, but will hold a public hearing on the proposed “Open Space” district, which is entirely within the FEMA “Special Flood Hazard Area” along the north branch and main stem of the Williams River from the Stone Village to Peck Road.

The purpose is to protect “critical flood plain resources including wetlands, wildlife habitat and natural flood storage that provides erosion control in the event of a flood.” The proposed district will have no “permitted uses,” including residential and applications for permits will require a Flood Hazard Review and a conditional use review by the Development Review Board.

Among the conditional uses are accessory structures for an approved or exempt use (like a backstop, dugout or bleachers for a baseball field,) arts and entertainment, civic/institutional, nursery, open market, recreation, sawmill and wood processing.

The public hearing will be part of the meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 556 Elm St.