CHESTER - There will be no commercial development along Highway 3 near the Village of Chester, at least not anytime soon.

 A unanimous motion of council on October 29 voted down an earlier initiative of council to rezone a portion of Highway 3 from the Windjammer Restaurant north to Collicut Building Supplies from residential to commercial.

 Warden Allen Webber said the public spoke loud and clear on the issue.

 "The logical decision is to not move forward at this time," he said. "Most of the people who responded, not all, but most, were opposed to the changes as they were proposed."

 For almost two months council delayed the decision at the request of the public.

 "Ultimately, you hold a public hearing for a good reason and that's to get feedback from the community," Mr. Webber said. "They were not in favour of the development agreement as we had presented it to them."

 The residents living within the affected area were concerned about the possible environmental impact to nearby Stanford Lake.

 Others, such as the Chester Village Commission, are concerned about how such developments could effect the character of the village.

 Others still suggest they'd potentially support a commercial rezoning if the architectural controls were strongly enforced.

 Councillor Brad Armstrong suggested this isn't the end of the commercial debate in and around the village.

 "Sometime we're going to have to have development somewhere," he said. "It's either going to be in East Chester or West Chester. Maybe we'll have to hire a consultant to help with this."

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 Councillor Sharon Church-Cornelius agreed commercial development is sorely needed.

 "But we want to do it properly."

 Mr. Webber suggests people aren't necessarily against commercial development, but it needs to be under the right circumstance, like Ms Church-Cornelius suggested.

 "I think … people recognize and understand there is a need to provide for a climate and atmosphere for commercial development to take place. It's how you approach it."

 In the end council agreed to initiate a new process that the warden said would likely involve bringing in a consultant to take a broader look at the issue.

 Ultimately, Mr. Webber said he's not surprised at the public reaction to the proposed rezoning.

 "This issue has been before us many times before and it's not going to go away," he said. "I was a little bit surprised we didn't have groups like the chamber of commerce come out and make statements in support of commercial development in some fashion. But people are very protective of their property and land-use issues are always the most contentious."

posted on 11/03/09