Greens will 'cripple' school district, county executive says

By Frances Ruth Harris
CHESTER — One fear echoed throughout the evening: that the Chester School District may not be able to overcome financial challenges posed by the Greens of Chester as the new development fills with residents.
People sat silently in the packed town hall on April 25, with many others standing along the wall. More than 25 people spoke, some twice.
“Isn’t there somebody who can do something?” asked resident Andrew Delo.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, a Chester resident and former town supervisor, said the town fought against the proposed development in the past, and that he’ll fight against it now.
“It will cripple the Chester School District,” said Neuhaus. “Transportation and support of disabled students equal high costs. We need to push the developer to develop commercially.”
He said he would try to push the developers in the direction of commercial development or a reconfigured subdivision.
Supervisor Alex Jamieson explained the town’s attempt to stop the Greens in court.
“I get that they won, but, by God, that doesn’t mean they can rape us,” said Delo. “This is Rockland County all over again.”
Pete Bradley said, “You don’t want to become the next Ramapo.”
The developer is obligated to market the 431 homes to be built at the Greens to anyone who is interested, and not just one group of people, like the Hasidim, said Jamieson.
Remedies offeredJamieson suggested two remedies to escalating growth in Chester: to institute a program for the purchase of development rights (PDR), and to institute a ward election system. PDR programs, like the one established years ago in the town of Goshen, buy the development rights to land without buying the land itself in order to preserve open space or historical properties. The ward system would divide the town into districts with similar population tallies for the purposes of elections, similar to the way it’s done in Congress.
“Purchase of development rights is one of the sure ways to preserve our town,” said Jamieson. The audience applauded.
He said there would ultimately be a public hearing on the proposed PDR, with the expectation it would be put before voters in November.
Jamieson said the ward election system would have 12 voting districts and the four school districts. It will start in 2021 or 2022, he said.
‘We’re not anti-Semitic’Steve Keahon, representing Preserve Chester, said his two goals were to preserve rural character and to make sure people vote regardless of their party. He said only 3,200 people out of 8,000 registered voters voted in the last election — less than 50 percent. Only 1,800 voted in 2015, he said, and 850 votes put the current board members in their seats.
“We need to get people into the voting booths,” he said in support of a ward system. “This is about equal representation.”
Jamieson said he’d be meeting May 1 with the Chester superintendent of schools, Sean Michel, and two of the owners “to talk about the school and the cost and such.”
He said he’ll report back about the May 1 meeting at the next town board meeting on May 9.
“It’s not because we’re anti-Semitic,” Neuhaus told the crowd. “It’s about what’s right for the community.”
Councilman Bob Valentine said the board’s hands were tied, but that he’d love to hear suggestions. There was silence.
Valentine made it clear that officials could not somehow just stop the subdivision.
Jamieson said he didn’t want to lose the town. He said they would fight.
New York State Assemblyman James Skoufis said he shared the sentiments of those in the room and promised to seek state assistance for additional costs. He said a referendum would have his strong support.
Jamieson said the town is now writing a no-solicitation law that would stop the harassment of homeowners.
“We all have the same goals of trying to preserve what we have,” he said. “We want to make things a little bit better for us.”
Tracy Schuh appauded Neuhaus for his fighting approach.
“We can’t wait,” she said. “We have to get things moving.”
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that it is Supervisor Alex Jamieson, not the county executive, who was to meet with the superintendent of schools. Also, the no-solicitation law is now being written and not yet in place, as was erroneously reported in the original story. The Chronicle regrets the errors.