PDJ Components settles violations, pursues site plan expansion

PDJ Components of 35 Brookside Avenue in the village of Chester has settled their violations with the village and submitted a revised site plan for their work site. They were present at the March 9 meeting of the village board to discuss their plans.

PDJ settled the violations case for $15,000. They had been cited for dust and noise pollution. They also submitted a revised site plan for their property. It calls for an increase in square footage of building space of 15,000 feet from 38,000 square feet to 53,000 square feet. Their prior application before the board asked for 80,000 square feet.

Because the increase in building space is more than 15 percent, PDJ needs to get special permission from the village board to approve their plan. PDJ representatives said the new building plan would allow them to bring dust and noise-causing activities inside and thus protect the community from these hazards. PDJ was advised to reopen their application before the planning board and to return to the village board in April. They were also advised that their application would likely require a public hearing before the village board.

Property maintenance, village clean up

In other news the village board held public hearings on updating property maintenance code and a six-month moratorium on lithium battery storage sites. They voted four to zero, with Alan Battiato absent, to approve the updated property maintenance codes, which they intend to “give teeth” to the code enforcers ability to monitor property cleanliness. They also voted four to zero to adopt the six-month moratorium on battery storage sites.

The board approved a request from Kiwanis to hold a village clean up on April 11. They set April 13 as the date of a public hearing for the tentative 2026-27 budget.

Call for aid, ICE concerns

They passed a resolution calling for increased aid to municipalities through the New York Conference of Mayors NYCOM and passed an agreement with Electric & M&R gas company for three years.

Two persons in the audience spoke during public comment and asked the village board to pass a law banning ICE from creating a detention center in the village. It is not clear whether such a law would hold water, as some experts believe the federal government could invoke the supremacy clause and override local zoning. At last report, Assemblyman Brain Maher said ICE told him that they would not be pursuing an ICE detention center in Chester.