Interview: Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge
The Chester Town Supervisor Talks With Us About The Building Moratorium and How The Town Plans to Tackle Orange County's LLC Problem.
In March of 2023, Chester Town Councilman, Brandon Holdridge, announced his intention to run for Chester Town Supervisor against incumbent Supervisor Robert D. Valentine. In November, Holdridge was elected Town Supervisor with 1,586 votes to Valentine’s 962.
While The Monroe Gazette currently investigates the Oak Wood / Oakwood Subdivision LLC potentially owned by David Breier — According to court documents from Ulster County, Oakwood Subdivision LLC shares the same physical address for Mr. Breier’s place of residence and business in Brooklyn — We wanted to speak with the new Town Supervisor about Orange County’s growing LLC problem, as well as how to best manage growth during a major housing crisis both nationally and locally.
The Oakwood Subdivision will get a hearing before the Town of Chester Planning Board on March 6th at 7pm. Residents and interested parties are encouraged to attend in person since there is no way to participate virtually.
The address for Chester Town Hall is 1786 KINGS HIGHWAY CHESTER, NY 10918.
As mentioned yesterday, Mr. John Sorentino sold 48 Jenna Drive in two parts, one parcel residing in the Town of Monroe. The other in Chester. Meadow Hill LLC (later Meadow Hill Subdivision LLC) is located in Monroe. Oak Wood Subdivision is located in Chester.
Numerous calls and emails to the Town of Monroe Planning Board Chair, Bonnie Franson, have not been returned, so the status of Meadow Hill is currently unknown after it appeared before the Planning Board in October of 2023.
Both Oakwood and Meadow Hill are adjacent to the proposed Henry Farms mega development.
After HIGHVIEW PROPERTIES D.H.F. INC. aka Helmer Cronin Construction Inc, lost a court case against the Town of Monroe in June of 2022, Sorrentino sold the Monroe and Chester parcels of his property for $422,500 each in December of 2022.
It’s our belief that both Oakwood and Meadow Hill represent an end run around both planning boards to acquire property for the Henry Farms project.
We’ll have more on that soon. But for now, let’s get to the interview
Chester Town Supervisor Speaks On Preservation and LLCs
The Town Supervisor’s comments are presented as provided via email.
The Monroe Gazette: Can you provide some background on the origins of the building moratorium and what the goal of passing it would be?
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge: The building moratorium came out of suggestions from the public and conversations in the Chester Comprehensive Plan Committee. We are in the process of revising our 2015 Comp Plan and the working group saw it necessary to institute a building moratorium while the work is underway.
The Monroe Gazette: How do you envision any future development in the Town of Chester? Do you take into consideration climate change in the Town Board approving, or not approving, new projects?
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge: I want smart growth. I'm not against development. It just needs to be the right type of development that makes sense for our town's character, the proper zoning, and that puts the environment/conservation of land/fauna/flora at the top of the priority list.
Climate and conservation are some of my biggest concerns. That's why I spearheaded the Climate Change Advisory Committee last year with members of the public. That group has now been changed to the Chester Conservation Advisory Council to expand it's responsibilities and powers.
Most, if not all, development/building will need to run through this group from here on out.
The Monroe Gazette: What is the Town of Chester doing to combat LLCs and other absentee landlords from buying up property with the goal of letting it to deteriorate in order to drive down property values?
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge: I'm hearing about this issue more and more recently. I know we passed a short term rental local law two years ago. I'm not opposed to doing more about this. Look at some zoning uses. But I am uneducated in this aspect and welcome any suggestions/information from the public or experts. Seriously, please reach out, I'm willing to listen and can't act if I don't know what to do specifically.
The Monroe Gazette: Does the Town of Chester have a publicly accessible database of LLCs within its borders? If not, would the Town consider making such a database publicly accessible for tenants and neighbors to complain to the property owner?
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge: We do not at this time but now that I have started as the Supervisor this year, I plan to push for an entity disclosure law. This is something members of the public have come to me about when I was a Councilman but I didn't have the support on the Town Board to get it passed.
The Monroe Gazette: What more can the Town of Chester do to penalize bad landlords and property owners? For example, can the town triple its fines?
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge: Our code enforcement laws are coincidentally being reviewed by the new town attorney and new building inspector as I write these responses to you. They are working hard to update the codes so they are fair but have the proper teeth at the same time.
The Monroe Gazette: Is there anything on this subject I did not ask you, that you would like Town of Chester residents (and Monroe residents who live on the border like I do) to know?
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge: There has been a sense that Chester was the wild west of development and building in the past. I am no contractor or trucker or home-builder. I'm a public servant. This is my home town. My family has lived here for three generations now on both my father and mother's sides.
This is a suburban/rural community and I would like to keep it that way, for my future family and everyone else's. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect the environment, protect the character of the town, conserve open space and so on. Not all development is bad development, it just needs to be done the right way and you have to have well-intentioned people in charge to make sure that happens.
Plenty of power rests in the Zoning Board / Planning Board / Building Inspector. I'm going to do my best to work with these entities to ensure the right decisions are made when it comes to development in Chester.