Washingtonville - Assemblyman Colin J. Schmitt (R,C New Windsor) sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to sign Chester PDR legislation that he passed in the Assembly along with Assemblyman-elect Brian Maher. The legislation has been delivered to the Governor’s desk for action.
Assemblyman Schmitt is the prime sponsor of A.7592, which would give the Town of Chester authority to establish Community Preservation Funds.
Assemblyman Colin J. Schmitt stated, “It is critical that this legislation passed in the New York State Assembly is signed by the Governor. This legislation has been repeatedly requested by the Town of Chester since 2015 and has received wide bipartisan and community support. I have been working on a daily basis with local leaders, community groups, and my partners in government to ensure this legislation reaches the Governor’s desk and is signed. Now is the time for the Governor to sign this bill into law to help the residents of Chester preserve their farmland, open space, and rural character.”
Assemblyman-elect Brian Maher stated, “Chester has requested this legislation since 2015. With Assemblyman Colin Schmitt’s passage of this highly requested legislation, I respectfully request the Governor sign this bill into law. The shared residents and constituents of Assemblyman Schmitt’s district and mine have spoken and we ask for their calls for action to be honored.”
Town of Chester Councilman Bob Courtenay stated: “The Town of Chester continues to push for community preservation legislation. This is bipartisan legislation with community-wide support. I respectfully urge Governor Hochul to give the residents of Chester, our shared constituents, the ability to decide their future with the approval of this legislation.”
Town of Chester Supervisor Robert Valentine stated: “On behalf of the residents of the Town of Chester I request Governor Hochul sign the Chester Community Preservation bill. This legislation is strongly supported by the entire town. The economic benefits brought by tourism and the ability for farmers to keep farming with the purchase of their development rights reinforce the positive outcome of signing this legislation. If it would make a difference, I cordially invite Governor Hochul to visit our town to meet with residents about this legislation and see firsthand the reasons to approve this bill.”
See the full text of the letter below and attached:
Governor Hochul:
We are writing to you today to respectfully request that you sign A07592/S05640-B into law authorizing the Town of Chester to establish a community preservation fund to protect its farmland, open spaces, water, historic landmarks, and natural resources.
As the prime sponsor of A07592/S05640-B in the New York State Assembly, I can confirm that this legislation enjoys overwhelming support from the Town of Chester government and by the general public. This legislation has bipartisan local government support and passed with overwhelming bipartisan fashion in both chambers of the legislature numerous times now.
We also wanted to highlight that this legislation empowers the citizens of Chester to have a public referendum vote regarding community preservation. Nothing could be more important to citizen engagement and democracy than empowering the citizens of Chester to cast a ballot for a program they may choose to support or not.
It is long overdue to allow all voters of Chester to have a say in the direction of their town and their well-documented and researched community preservation plan. We respectfully request that you sign this bill into law as it will greatly serve the people of Chester and the 99th Assembly District and the newly redistricted 101st Assembly District.
If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact my office at 845-469-6929 or email schmittc@nyassembly.gov.
Sincerely,
Colin J. Schmitt
Member of Assembly, 99th District
Brian Maher
NYS Assemblyman-elect, 101st District
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