ROCKLAND – Members of the Rockland City Council acknowledged the hard work of the Comprehensive Planning Commission while continuing with a zoning vote that the Commission wanted postponed.

At the Monday, Nov. 13 meeting, councilors unanimously approved a zoning change for the east side of Old County Road, effective in 30 days. The ordinance now allows the east side of zone RR1 to expand the maximum building and maximum lot coverages from 20 to 40 percent and from 30 to 60 percent, respectively.

This amendment came about because of a veterinarian whose business had outgrown its Old County Road clinic, and couldn’t expand because of the limitations of current zoning.

According to Councilor Ed Glaser, the Commission wanted the vote tabled so that it could consider all possible zoning options for that area. However, Glaser stated a determination to push forward in order to lessen the delay’s impacts on that area’s businesses.

“Even though we are in the process of changing some things down the road,” he said, “we still have to run the city.”

Councilor Valli Geiger shared similar sentiment.

“While in the abstract, it’s easy to say that we should be frozen in time until the Comprehensive Planning Commission has been doing it’s work, I think they started doing the work when I was chair of the Comprehensive Planning, and it’s just not how a city works,” she said.

Geiger further called for another future conversation about the role of Old County Road. As Rockland becomes busier, and more of an attraction, Geiger said: “is it to remain a greenbelt around the city, and a rural road? Or is it really going to become something much different, and a place to sort of offload traffic from downtown?”

Related story:

Rockland council to address Old County Road zoning

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com