To the editor: Reasons to vote Yes

The Chester Telegraph | Nov 10, 2014 | Comments 11

Vote “YES” on Nov. 18, to remove the proposed addition of auto/sales/service/fuel on Main Street in Chester. This is why:

In response to M.J. Miles’ letter to The Chester Telegraph challenging perceived and actual claims by those opposing the addition of used car lots, fueling stations, and other auto service outlets along Chester’s Main Street, it is agreed that verifiable, accurate information be made available to voters concerned with this issue.

The wording change in Chester’s new Unified Development Bylaws (UDBs), addresses a general condition, not a specific case. While some look at the current proposed construction at Routes 103 and 11, the zoning text allows for full strip development all along Main Street in the particular zones in question. Nothing in the new UDBs prevents that. A gas station next to car lot next to a box store and a pizza restaurant and so on all the way to the post office is possible under these regulations. That is strip development, which can be so destructive to a town’s economy and character.

The alternative the State of Vermont is encouraging with all other communities, “Mixed Use Development” is described by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) in one publication as: “Purposefully including a variety of appropriate uses within walkable distances [that provide] convenient access to services while creating a vibrant backdrop for commercial and social exchange.”

Mixed-use development includes commercial establishments (pharmacies, retailers, coffee shops, etc.) on ground floors, professional offices on second floors and residential units on upper floors. Parking is usually to the side or rear and landscaping and public spaces are often included. Here is how such development can be far more beneficial for Chester.

Chester’s Green is a good example. Cars, businesses, residences, pedestrians, bicyclists are all coexisting there successfully. It’s one of the community’s current success stories.

What’s so good about mixed use development? A town can reap many times more tax revenue from mixed use- than from single-use development, providing the opportunity to reduce property taxes, giving the town the leeway to make improvements in its infrastructure and improving the town’s attraction to tourists and companies considering relocation.

Mixed use also allows for higher quality streets, encouraging pedestrian and bicycle traffic, which generates more income for local businesses and attracts higher-end employers to a community.

Strip developments – gas stations or not – may be good for out-of-state corporations that take money out of our community, or the vested local interests looking to make a quick profit, but they can be terrible for our local economy. An example of what Chester could be forfeiting, financially, should this strip development proceed: “The Smart Math of Mixed-Use Development”:

Regarding crime, perpetrators are attracted to communities with unwatched parking areas because they know retail chains tend to rarely spend money on monitoring cameras. If so, it’s likely that allowing this strip development will help worsen crime. Mixed use development, on the other hand, stimulates pedestrian traffic, a great deterrent to crime.

Also, mixed use development is more likely to welcome local and regional businesses. Once a strip development takes hold, it’s like an invasive plant and can discourage local and regional businesses because corporate chains tend to make the local economy worse, diminishing the interest by other local and regional outlets.

Would large auto-related businesses consider moving onto Main Street? No one can tell. Five years ago, who would have predicted the likes of a Dollar General coming to Chester? But the zoning has been put in place to allow it.

The corporate models for doing business are proprietary information, but what we can see is that the models don’t care about the character of our 250 year-old New England treasure, which we all want to preserve. We have to care about that and not allow short sighted zoning to chip away at one of our greatest assets.

There is a claim that those of us trying to help Chester prosper are discriminating against auto services. No one within our group is discriminating against anyone, least of all automotive outlets. We all own vehicles that need fuel and periodic service. The question is where those services should be located in our town and what form they should take.

So here’s an alternate to the current situtation: Vote Yes and ask the Planning Commission to change the Commercial-Residential zone out on Rt. 103 to Commercial. Keep the convenience store portion of Jiffy-Mart where it is, serving the pedestrian market which is so large for them. Turn the fueling area of the property into an outdoor seating area. Move Jiffy-Mart’s fueling operation east of the new car wash, likely increasing business for the car wash in the process. Add big rig overnight parking there, which could add revenue for Jiffy-Mart. Then, encourage mixed use developers to invest in the area from Zachary’s to the bridge on Rt. 103. Invite them to build high density retail, office and residential that will yield more tax revenue and greater economic impact than gas stations and car lots.

This is a little vote with massive implications for the town. Help all of us – not just a few – prosper and enjoy living here: Vote “YES” on the 18th.

Claudio Véliz, AIA
Chester