CHESTER — The Town of Chester has finalized a contract to purchase the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center for $1 million, part of a sweeping effort to buy up as much open land in the town as possible to keep unwanted future Hasidic development in check.

The contract was approved at a Town Board meeting Wednesday night. The 8.8-acre property was appraised at $1.8 million, according to Chester Supervisor Alex Jamieson. It was a good deal for the town, he said.

Jamieson characterized the purchase as one of several to be finalized in the coming weeks and months that are meant to slow the expansion of the Hasidic community outside of Kiryas Joel.

“People realize what the possibilities are. The fear of KJ expanding into Chester is scaring people half to death,” Jamieson said Thursday. “It's not just the Greens at Chester. They are buying property all around it."

Earlier this year, Chester residents learned that Greens at Chester, the 431-home development being built on a 110-acre site west of the Whispering Hills subdivision, would be a predominantly Hasidic community and could eventually be home to 3,000 people.

The news brought hundreds of people to a Town Board meeting, where they urged elected officials to stop the development. At the time, Jamieson told the public the town would explore instituting a ward system for electing Town Board members and adopting an open-space preservation program.

"We made a promise to the people to preserve as much of the town as possible," Jamieson said. "This is just the first phase.”

In addition to the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center purchase, the town is also finalizing a contract to buy a 26-acre property on Route 94 in Chester where Primo Sports originally planned to build a sports complex. The Town Board expects to vote on that purchase at its next meeting, Jamieson said.

At this point, the town has not decided what it will do with the performing arts center. Jamieson said the town could rent it back to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, the current owner, and let it continue operations. The town will look into building a community pool and running track on the Route 94 property, he said.

The town is also finalizing a contract to buy two parcels of land outside Sugar Loaf totaling 160 acres. The land is owned by the Laroe family foundation and will cost the town $1.3 million.

Altogether the purchases will total $3.1 million. The town plans to fund them by issuing long-term bonds. The town will vote on a bond resolution at its next meeting to borrow $3.5 million, Jamieson said.

Any resident can start a petition to put the bond to vote. If the petition has the required number of signatures to force a referendum, the bond will be put on the ballot in November. If no one raises an objection within 30 days of the resolution, the town will move ahead with borrowing the money.

Two years ago, Chester voters soundly rejected the town’s plan to issue bonds to buy the Frozen Ropes baseball-softball training complex. This time around, Jamieson predicted, the response will be different.

“It’s something people will embrace,” Jamieson said.

The town plans to continue buying properties, according to Jamieson. He pointed to available land in the town, including the BT Holding property in the Village of Chester, Johnson Farm on Route 94 and properties owned by the Palmer family along Laroe Road.

This November, the ward system will also be on the ballot. If approved, Town Board members will be elected by district instead of townwide vote, thereby limiting Greens at Chester’s potential political power.

“The idea is to keep the Hasidic out so that they can’t control the Town Board,” Jamieson explained.

Blooming Grove in Orange County and Mamakating in Sullivan County have instituted ward systems following surges in Hasidic home buyers.

heasley@th-record.com