Backgrounder: The Dollar General project

The 9,100-square-foot project, being developed by the Zaremba Group of Ohio, received an approval in October 2011 from the Chester Development Review Board for a subdivision, since it is currently part of property owned by Ted Zachary, who ran a pizza house adjacent to the parcel he is hoping to sell to Dollar General.

The DRB also had to approve the conditional use. It gave its approval for the project in April 2012, but placed 35 conditions on the building’s look and how the business operates. You can find those conditions here: https://www.chestertelegraph.org/2012/04/18/drb-approves-dollar-general-proposal/

Smart Growth Chester, a group of citizens that believes that the Dollar General won’t be healthy for the town’s economy nor fit in with its Victorian character, has appealed the conditional use approval to the Vermont Superior Court Environmental Division. Even if the Act 250 Commission gives its approval, the project still faces the Environmental Court appeal. And Smart Growth Chester has vowed to appeal should the Act 250 Commission approve the project.

Dollar General is a “small box” chain retailer headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tenn., with 10,000 stores nationwide, 12 in Vermont, including one in nearby Springfield, VT. It has one New Hampshire store – in Nashua.