Dear Editor,
We were glad to see the article in The Vermont Journal called “Chester adopts rural development bylaws,” in which there was much reporting on the issue of extraction in the newly named RUR-3, which is approximately 60% of Chester. From speaking with friends and neighbors, we have found that few are aware that the town has the ability to issue a lifetime conditional use permit to allow a quarry to locate 100 feet from your property line. This means there can be drilling, blasting, noise, and trucking. This noise is disturbing, repetitive, and ignored by town officials when reported.
This means a family could spend their whole lives developing a home and property, only to have their quality of life ruined by a conditional use permit granted by the town. If the conditional use permit is not followed, the Town of Chester states they are unable to enforce the violations of their own conditions in their own issued permit.
This issue needed to be addressed and changed in the Chester Unified Development Bylaws, and there was much discussion about extraction in the planning commission minutes. Ultimately, the only change in extraction policy was the removal of its conditional use from RES-2. Interestingly enough, the town owns a gravel pit in RES-2, and can extract gravel if needed due to previous use.
If the town is truly interested in attracting new homeowners to the Town of Chester, we feel the planning commission, development review board, selectboard, and the town manager need to establish updated conditional use enforceable restrictions for extraction and quarrying. Who would move to Chester knowing that there could be a quarry 100 feet from your property line?
Sincerely,
Scott Kilgus and Leslie Thorsen
Chester, Vt.