ROCKLAND – For Rockland Animal Hospital, business is good. So good that staff have outgrown the office space, surgery, and two exam rooms at the Old County Road clinic. Veterinarian Phil Caron would like to expand, having gone so far as to buy an adjacent property. Yet the zoning for his rural lot still prevents growth.

In response, Rockland City Councilors are seeking solutions for saving both the zone and the business.

Stipulations for Rural Residential Zone 1 were enacted years ago to maintain the rural character of Old County Road and its sensitive natural resources. Small entities have since upstarted along the “burgeoning corridor” as referred by Councilor Adam Ackor during the Wednesday, Sept. 6, agenda-setting meeting.   

The animal hospital, at the corner of Rankin Street and Old County Road near other businesses and a subdivision, covers about a quarter of an acre. Due to city code, veterinarians are only allowed in three zones, with RR1 having the lowest lot percentages of them all. Caron told councilors that he’d like to expand toward the road, maybe take some of his boarding outside. Yet, the 20/30 rule prevents this. 

“Unbelievably, we found out, even with buying that adjacent lot, he was still not going to be able to do what he wanted to do,” Code enforcement officer John Root told council. 

Root defined lot coverage as any impervious surface, including gravel driveways. Anything developed. Not natural, green, whatever. Building coverage is coverage of actual buildings, including accessory buildings. 

For RR1 zone, which has allowed mixed residential and commercial usage as well as limited merchandising, the building coverage is 20 percent. The lot coverage is 30 percent. 

At the time the zone was implemented, the area didn’t have sewer extensions, “nor is sewer extension likely,” Root read from the zone details, but immediately noted that that is no longer the case.

“Large lots should be retained to maintain the rural character of the area,” he read.

Root determined that the rural, scenic, and sensitive natural resources are on the west side of the road. On the east side, no natural resources exist that need preserving. 

Therefore, one proposal is to maintain RR1 zoning for the west side of the street, and allow a 40/60 percentage to the east side.

“It feels a little weird to say one side one thing, one side another,” Councilor Valli Geiger said. 

“Twenty to 30 doesn’t seem reasonable to me, particularly when residential is allowed to have far more. Old County Road is a commercial street as far as I’m concerned. With businesses up and down. And I don’t see it getting any less because it is one of the places with large parcels where commercial development can actually happen.”

City Councilors will continue to address this issue during the October council meeting.

“Mainly,” Mayor Will Clayton said, “You [Caron] are at the point of losing a business, and keeping it stagnant, or trying to help spur some economic growth. And not just for Phil’s business, but for any other who works there.”

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com