Chester Center District Questionnaire
Responses

1. Chester Center District should include the following areas:

a.) Route 148 from the Carini Preserve to the Firehouse and the Library/United Church:
YES: 168 NO: 18

b.) North Main St from the corner of Cummings & Good's building, the Dunk House
Gallery, Richard Saks Bicycles and Paulson's offices to the Norma Terris Theatre:
YES: 151 NO: 31

c.) North Main St up to the Meeting House:
YES: 115 NO: 70

d.) Main Street from the corner of Route 148 to the corner of Route 154:
YES: 142 NO: 44

e). Middlesex Tpke includes North Quarter Park, Community Center, Chester War Memorial and St. Joseph's Church?
YES: 128 NO: 60

f.) Corner of Main St and Maple Street to the Maple Street Municipal Parking Lot:
YES: 166 NO: 18
Other areas to include: *Corner of Spring Street/Nilsson Gallery

2. Do you feel the Center District should primarily serve Chester residents?

YES: 45 NO: 79

3. Do we need to attract visitors and tourists to economically sustain the Center District?

YES: 115 NO: 14

4. Town Economy is based on:

Retail: 169
Tourism: 169
Arts Based Shops & Galleries: 162
Restaurants/Food Service: 197
Recreation or Nature Based Tourism: 83
Manufacturing: 105
Service Based: 78
Publishing: 47
Real Estate: 100
In-Home Business: 83
Other:
Norma Terris Theatre
Health Care Facilities
Marina's/Marine Services
High Property Taxes

5. Do you support what our Main Street businesses presently have to offer?

YES: 111 NO: 10

6. Types of businesses you presently support in Chester Center:

Post Office
New Haven Savings Bank
Restaurants/Food Service: Wheatmarket; The Lunch Box; Queen of Tarts Bakery; The Pattaconk 1850; Restaurant DuVillage; Fiddlers; The River Tavern
Liquor Store
Galleries
Retail Shops - Most retail shops mentioned (even if the person does not patronize)

7. How often do you take advantage of the village?

Daily: 83 Weekly: 105 Monthly: 42 Never: 3

8. Would you support village center residences with in-home businesses?

YES: 109 NO: 20

9. What services or types of business would you like to attract or bring into the Center District?

Farmer's Market
General Basic Store for locals
Small Grocer/Meat Market
Natural Food Store
Arts related shops including cards & gifts
Family Style affordable restaurant
Book Store
Video/Music Retail Store
Ice Cream Shop
Pharmacy

10. What services or types of businesses are inappropriate for the Center District?

Adult Entertainment
Fast Food Restaurant
Large Retail Chain/Franchises
Laundromat
Gas Station
Tattoo Parlor
Industrial/Manufacturing
"Casino" style Shop
"Noisy" businesses
Gun Shop

11. Should the commercial/residential buildings on Main Street be considered historic?

YES: 81 NO: 38

12. Should Main St. and the Center District keeps its "Architectural Charactericstics"
intact for the future?
YES: 114 NO: 18

13. Do you support closing of vehicular traffic on Main Street to allow for pedestrian traffic
(from the corner of Route 148 to the Main Street flag pole) for certain town and merchant weekend festivals/events?

YES: 149 NO: 20

14. Should the Center District provide services to residents and be diverse enough to bring in visitors and tourist as it does today?

YES: 155 NO: 14

15. Is it important to you to have a Municipal presence downtown?

YES: 92 NO: 80
Comments: The presence should now be shifted to North Quarter Park & Community Ctr.

16. If so, what new type(s) of Municipal presence would you like to see downtown?

Library: 80
Youth Center: 70
Senior Center: 68
Other: Town Hall use: 13
Open Air Courtyard or Town Center Information Area: 4
Police Station: 3
Comments: Community center area should be developed for youth/senior center and new library.

17. What do you think should be done with the two municipal buildings downtown?

65 Main Street:
Retain for Municipal use: YES: 98
Sell building: YES: 147
Note: 11 voted for both retain and sell
Other Comments: Lease building and/or municipal lease of land with sale of building; Library.

69 Main Street: Rebuild, Refurbish & Retain for Municipal use: YES: 41

Sell building for commercial/residential use: YES: 123
Note: Out of the 123 to sell - 34 also selected YES to retain for municipal use

Village Green: YES: 132
Note: [Village Green with public restrooms: 86; Village Green w/out Restrooms: 85
= 171 (171 minus 39 that answered yes to both village green options equals 132)].
Also, 11 circled both village green and retain for municipal use.

Municipal Parking Lot: YES: 29
Other Comments:
Lease building and/or lease land if selling building.
Comments against parking lot due to further vehicle traffic on Main street.

18. How much of an effect does development in the surrounding towns have on Chester?

*Impacts traffic
*Impacts the number of visitors.
*Impacts property taxes & Region 4 school system.
*The more the surrounding towns change and develop, the more the character of Chester will be pressured to build and develop our remaining land and go from a rural town to a more suburban area.
*The more surrounding towns change and develop the more attractive Chester's unique town character is important to maintain.

19. Do you know the limitations of the current town sewage treatment system and of future plans to tie in to the Deep River sewage treatment plant?

YES: 76 NO: 91

20. Are the following important to you?

Municipal Open Space: YES: 182 NO: 30
Clean Water: YES: 227 NO: 5
Natural Resources - CT River, forest, lakes, wildlife: YES: 210 NO: 4
Chester Creek's natural features and water quality: YES: 191 NO: 8
Access to outdoor recreation: YES: 185 NO: 9

What kind of outdoor recreation?

Playground - Swimming - Hiking - Walking/Jogging - Boating (includes canoes/kayaks) - Bicycling
Comments: Recreation is very important.

21. How would you define the "community character" of the Chester Center and is it important to you?

Quaint; Friendly; Unique; A meeting place (i.e. community gatherings due to Merchants Nights and Town Events); Small town where you know many people walking the downtown area; Historic; Artistic/Artsy; Cultural; Eclectic; Clean, neat, tidy and safe; Hometown; Touristy; Cultural; Classy, sophisticated, refined but not snobby; Entrepreneurial; Picturesque.

22. If you were born and/or raised here, why did you stay or move back to Chester?

Family - Marriage - Employment - State Forest/Open Space

23. If you moved here, what attracted you to Chester?
Main Street: 139

Elementary School system: 87
Regional School system: 24
Cedar Lake: 116
State Forests and Parks: 121
Connecticut River: 131
Real Estate: 113
Other: Employment and Marriage

24. Do you volunteer for town functions or commissions at this time? YES: 49

If not, would you consider doing so in the future? YES: 36

25. Other comments: Below is a sampling of comments, which repeated a common theme or sentiment. Comments in "quotation marks" are actual quotes.

Many comments regarding the importance of Chester's "Rural" character and landscape.

Many comments such as: "Thank you for asking"

"Many people when they find out where you live say, 'Oh, I love Chester'. There is a certain feel that has become associated with the town that we should make every effort to maintain while also considering changes and adaptations to stay viable. This is very important to us."

"We love our town, let us grow, change smart and keep Chester 'Chester'."

"We are unique and one of the few towns to have a Main Street with one of kind buildings and homes."

"You meet people on foot, all attempts to increase vehicular efficiency undercuts our heritage."

"A strong sense of Chester as a community - pride, interest, willingness to help. It is not what drew us here but it is what keeps us here."

"It looks the same to me as when I was a child, except the only difference is the buildings, homes and businesses are kept up and not run down."

"Chester is an outstanding, sophisticated small town."

"The center sure has changed since I was a kid, we could buy groceries, go to the pharmacy, {…} meat market, {…} hardware….WalMart and Stop and Shop did away with this kind of small town main street. But I'm glad to see the center businesses are able to adapt and the buildings look good with new paint, roofs, etc."

"Small New England town struggling with its identity and future, with a healthy balance of intelligent opinionated residents seeking to define what they want yet who are willing to help each other out at the drop of a hat."

"Growth and change are inevitable and unavoidable. Do not leave it to chance."

"Quaint New England village full of wonderful "characters".

Note:
Planning and Zoning would like to thank everyone who responded to this questionnaire. The public's input is important to us and always welcome.

Yours truly,
Planning and Zoning Subcommittee
Lori Ann Clymas, John DeLaura,Patricia Pendergast, Lisa Smith, Meredith Vroman

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