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V.PAULIUS & ASSOCIATES / C&S WHOLESALE BUILDING, CHESTER INDUSTRIAL PARK PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED: JULY 6, 8:00 PM at Chester Town Hall - continued to July 26 at Village and Aug 3 at Town Proposal: 90 foot high, 373,000 square feet in footprint adjoining C&S current building on 67 acres. The facility expansion will result in the addition of 300 truck trips per day for a total of 600 truck trips daily spread out over 24 hours - estimated 26 trips per hour. The facility has condensers currently using 80,000 gallons of water per day and estimated an additional 160,000 needed for expansion for a total of 240,000 gallons per day. Concerns: Visual Impact, Traffic and Water usage. Lastest articles...... Tall Building is Short on Support http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2005/07/15/the_chronicle/news/1.txt Below article from Times Herald Record: Town, village of Chester at odds over 90-foot building
By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record June 3, 2005
Chester Having viewed the height of a 90-foot-tall building that might rise one day in their visual horizon, Chester town planning officials say there's no problem.
An official from the Village of Chester, on the other hand, says his neighbors might want to start worrying.
V. Paulius & Associates, the developer of the proposed building, floated balloons tied to 90 feet of rope May 21-23 to give residents a visual representation of the building's height.
The developer has been trying to sell the town and village on the proposal a 373,547-square-foot refrigerated warehouse for C&S Groceries Inc. by citing its benefits, including adding millions of dollars in property tax revenue and more jobs.
Critics of the plan worry the building proposed for Chester Industrial Park would become an eyesore, increase traffic and use up water. Officials of V. Paulius & Associates have said they will not try to force the project on the community if it becomes a visual or environmental issue.
The building, to be located next to the existing C&S center, would sit on both town and village property.
Town Planning Board members Wednesday night said that, based on their observations, the building would not appear very imposing.
"I had anticipated a much greater visual impact than what I saw," said board Chairman Raymond Johanson. "If a dozen homes would be impacted by this site, it would be a lot."
However, Chester village Planning Board Chairman Richard Ramsdell, who also saw the balloons, said the building would be clearly visible from the village's sidewalks and roads.
"I think there are probably many meaning more than 10 to 20 but less than 100 homes that will have a view of this building," Ramsdell said. "I think it will be interesting what comments will come out in a public hearing, if (villagers) had a chance to see the balloons."
Residents who missed the balloons last month can view computer-generated photos of the proposed structure before a public hearing scheduled for July 6 at Chester Town Hall.
Chester village agreed to the hearing only if the town required V. Paulius & Associates to provide studies on traffic, well water and other impacts 10 days before the hearing.
Kip Kramer, general counsel for the developer, said his company would comply with the request
Residents worry building will be too big
By John Sullivan - May 13, 2005
Times Herald-Record
jsullivan@th-record.com
Chester - Concerned residents fear it would become the Godzilla of all Orange County buildings: a 90-foot-tall, 373,547-square-foot refrigerated warehouse that would gobble up water and block out the sun.
But V. Paulius & Associates, the New Jersey owner of the property at Chester Industrial Park, says residents are prematurely sounding the alarm.
Sure, the building - a warehouse and processing center for C&S Groceries Inc. - would measure at least twice the height of other buildings in the industrial park, but the land is flat and low, invisible from Route 17, and at least 300 feet away from the nearest home.
How big is big?
Consider that the average radio tower reaches about 70 to 80 feet high. Orange County's two tallest buildings, the 11-story Bourne Apartments in Newburgh and the 10-story Southeast Towers in Middletown, measure 110 and 100 feet tall, respectively. The average strip mall takes up about 100,000 square feet.
Chester residents will get a chance to see the building's height later this month, when engineers float balloons attached to 90-foot-long ropes from the proposed building's 62-acre site, said Kip Kramer, general counsel to V. Paulius & Associates.
Balloons will be floated so residents can assess from local roads, porches or decks whether the building would cast an undesirable shadow or block a pristine view.
If they don't like what they see, the owner will scrap the plans, Kramer said. "This isn't anybody trying to shove anything down anybody's throat."
The building, an extension to the existing C&S warehouse, would fall within both town and village limits. The town Planning Board is using state guidelines to study water and other environmental impacts. The village is studying the impact on traffic.
Activists in Chester are skeptical. Tracy Schuh with the Preservation Collective worries her town and village are more eager for additional jobs and tax revenue, estimated at more than $1 million a year, than knowing if the residents want the building near their homes. The town did not notify residents when it approved the building's height in November, and few people knew that the village offered to supply the building potable water for bathrooms and fire hydrants, she said.
C&S would have to provide its own water for the refrigeration units.
"We want the people to look at all the facts and partake in what this town becomes," Schuh said.
Below Articles are from the Chronicle - April 22, 2005: * see TPC notes at very bottom
Extra-tall building bumps up against challenges By Edie Johnson CHESTER - In an unusual joint meeting, the Chester Town and Village Planning Boards considered a project that would bring a 90-foot-tall, 343,000-square-foot building and cooling tower to a local industrial park.
C&S Grocers Warehouse wants to build on 58.1 acres on Blackmeadow Road in the Chester Industrial Park. The project would cross town and village lines.
The company is New England's largest food wholesaler and is second in the United States, with annual sales approaching $13 billion. It is the eighth largest privately held company in the country and has 36 facilities in 13 states.
Jim Sweeney, attorney for owner V. Paulius & Associates, began his presentation at the April 6 meeting saying the structure's enormous height had already been approved by the town board.
A skeptical Ray Johanson, chairman of the town planning board, asked, "You say this has already been approved?" *
When Sweeney responded "Yes," Johanson asked fellow board members how the town board could approve the plan before the planning board even had a chance to review it, and especially when the planning board was assigned as the lead agency. After some discussion over legalities, the planners concluded that the Chester Planning Board is lead agency over site approval and that permission to build is still subject to planning board approval and state environmental review. This allows approval to be withdrawn if the planning board determines the project poses significant detrimental environmental impact.
Tracy Schuh, an activist on open space and environmental issues, produced a copy of the town board's minutes from the meeting in which the building was discussed. The minutes confirmed that approval was contingent on review by the planning board.
According to Schuh: "Just because we have an industrial park, it doesn't mean we should settle for whatever company brings in a proposal. With the new interchange design, I think the property in the area is very valuable and there are certainly other companies out there with more typical building specs to fit in and will have less impact. It is quite possible that this company could go out of business or move its operation at some point but either way, if the town approves a 90-plus-foot eyesore, I'm afraid we all will be scratching our heads 30 years from now saying What were we thinking?'"
The project would hire about 300 employees. In addition to the main structure, it includes a maintenance garage about a half-mile away on Village of Chester property.
As for water, which V. Paulius hopes will be supplied by the village, Sweeney said that using village water was "nearly a done deal." [See related story, above.]
The Village Planning Board and Mayor Susan Bahren protested that the issue is still in the talking stages.
"We do not know of any done deal'," Bahren said. If completed, water usage on the site would be about 165,000 gallons per day.
Sweeney asked that public meetings be held soon, saying that "these things are better out in the open earlier rather than later so the wishes of the public can be included from the start."
Johanson replied: "You are a long way from being ready for hearings on this project. You don't even have water."
Other questions remain regarding sewage and stormwater drainage. Traffic studies may be required. While the developer has already said the impact on traffic will be negligible, there will be at least 300 employees' vehicles coming and going, adding to the ever-increasing congestion of Route 94.
The Chester Town and Village Planning Boards agreed to meet both separately and together several times regarding the proposal before the project reaches the public hearing stage.
In the end, Sweeney was sent back to the drawing board to make a list of concerned agencies, meet with the village further about water, and deal with the environmental impact such a project poses for Chester. The bottom line is that planners still have their options open regarding the project.
Notice will be published prior to the public hearings, which are likely to be held within the next few months.
C&S update
At the Town of Chester's planning board meeting this week, Chairman Ray Johanson read letters from Pat Kramer of V. Paulius & Associates and one from C&S lawyer Jim Sweeeney stating that "The Town had every authority to give them approval." Kramer called asking to appear again before the planning board in May.
The chairman denied the request to reappear in May, citing the now even more indefinite water situation. Tests will have to be done for private wells since the village has ruled they will provide only emergency water. Also, Jerry McDonald. the town's consulting engineer, stated in another letter that the methodology of the state Department of Environmental Conservation needs to be more thorough with regard to the visual effects of the tower.
If C&S is permitted to proceed, they will be asked to float balloons to the height of the tower to test if the structure's view can be mitigated as it would appear from Blackmeadow Road and 17M. "All this should be done before public hearings," Johanson said.
He suggested the plannign board might be able to get back on the schedule forJune.
When told that was not acceptable and "If the planning board won't dealwith this in a timely manner, we will go elsewhere, probably Newburgh," Johanson responded, "You gotta do what you gotta do." Industrial park owner seeks water for 90-foot building By Linda Keay CHESTER - If the Village of Chester does not soon approve a water hook-up to a 90-foot-high building proposed for a local industrial park, the deal may fall through, according to the park owner's representative.
"The customer is slipping through our fingers," said Pat Kramer, representing V. Paulius & Associates, which owns the industrial park property. The customer is C&S Wholesale Grocers.
"Chester has been incredibly good to V. Paulius & Associates through the years," Kramer told village trustees at their meeting on April 11. "We hope we've been good neighbors as well." *
He noted that V. Paulius & Associates has grown to be the village's largest taxpayer.
If the C&S project goes ahead, he said, the village stands to gain an additional $3 to $4 million dollars in tax revenue because of the building's size and because it will be refrigerated. *
But, he continued, the deal can go through only if V. Paulius meets the insurance requirements, which means getting a water hook-up for fire protection. The project would cross town and village lines and rely on village water. Kramer claimed no water would be taken from the village supply for regular use, which would be supplied through a well. The hook-up would only be for dousing fires, he said.
Village attorney Kenneth Frank said the board could not give him formal approval without first consulting the fire department and water commissioner. Kramer then asked for informal approval, but Frank said that was legally meaningless.
"Somebody has to, in writing, give us a complete statement to the water commissioner of what you intend to use the water for and what the anticipated capacity and volume is that you're going to use," Frank said.
The request would also have to go through the fire department, he said. If the sprinkler system isn't enough to take care of a fire, water would have to be pumped from another water source.
"We're just running out of clock," Kramer said. He said he had hoped he could report at a public hearing in the town the next day that the project met the village's criteria "but clearly that's not the way your attorney wants you to proceed." "We have to be able to start the building within 60 days," he said. "If we can't do that, they're walking....If I have to go away and come back in a month, the game is over."
The board finally agreed to have a special meeting on Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 at village hall, before the village's planning board meeting, to determine if V. Paulius addressed the missing requirements.
Trustee Philip Valastro asked how much truck traffic the facility will generate. Kramer said that, according to a traffic study, the trucks will not use local streets.
"Those trucks go right up and jump on the highway that empties into the park," he said.
Kramer admitted that Mayor Bahren had asked him to erect signs for the trucks directing them to the proper routes. He apologized for not yet getting those signs up. ------------- * Notes: 1) Town Board minutes of November 9, states the authorization for construction is not to exceed 90 feet high (not approval for 90 feet). 2) The new addition is on the Town side of the site, not Village. Conflicting information on tax benefits, which appear to be recently overstated since at Town Board meeting in March, 2003, it is stated that taxes would generate only approximately 1.2 million per year once the tax incentives for the first several years are exhausted. 3) Respondents V. Paulius and Associates and Chester Industrial Park Associates, L.P. are found to have violated ECL Article 24 and 6 NYCRR Part 663, October 2000: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ohms/decis/chesterdo.htm
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