Chester Inn could become yeshiva

Chester Inn could become yeshiva

By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
jsullivan@th-record.com

Chester – The Inn at Chester, located off Route 17M, is about to turn Kosher.
A Hasidic group from Westchester County is purchasing the motel and contiguous properties and proposing to turn it into a religious boarding school that could take in as many as 600 students from all over the world.
Yeshiva Toras Chemed Inc., a subsidiary of a yeshiva in the Town of Newcastle, is requesting the Town of Chester grant a change of use for the land, located at 1425 Route 17M. The property, consisting of three parcels totaling about 17 acres, is currently approved for use as a motel and banquet facility.
The Hasidic group wants to convert the existing 7,200-square-foot motel into a 16-unit dormitory, as well as build a 24,000-square-foot school and a 9,000-square-foot, 21-unit dormitory on a contiguous parcel as part of an international religious boarding school for students ages 14-18.
If all three parcels are developed, the boarding school could take in as many as 600 students, according to town zoning regulations, said Chester Building Inspector Joseph Mlcoch.
The Yeshiva Farm Settlement, located in the Town of Newcastle, is a nonprofit in good standing. Its subsidiary's proposed school in Chester would likely be eligible for tax exemptions under federal law.
The 2005 property taxes for two of the parcels, owned by Chester resident Colleen Moriarty, are about $11,000. If Yeshiva Toras Chemed opts to remain exempt from property taxes, the potential loss to the Town of Chester would likely run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Chester Planning Board Acting Chairman Barry Sloan said the Hasidic group has not made any requests for tax exemptions. He said there are still zoning issues that must be resolved before the proposal can go forward.
A public hearing on the proposal has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 19.
Burt Dorfman, a Nyack lawyer representing Yeshiva Toras Chemed, said plans to close on the purchase of the motel and contiguous parcels is imminent. Moriarty and her husband, Daniel, who owns the third parcel, could not be reached for comment about the sale.
County property records for 2001 and 2002 show the total assessed values of the three parcels at more than $1 million.
Representatives of the yeshiva submitted a recommendation letter from New Castle Supervisor Janet Wells as part of their application for the change of use. Wells described the residents of the yeshiva as "outstanding and exemplary citizens," whose settlement has existed in New Castle since 1948.
Facilities on the settlement consist of a few dormitories and a limited number of homes for senior graduate students, she said in the letter. Although the group pays taxes to water and sewer districts in the area, it does not pay property taxes, said New Castle's town administrator, Gennaro Faiella.