LIBERTY, NY — At its regularly scheduled board meeting on January 22 (postponed from January 21) the Town of Liberty board heard about zoning recommendations for the hamlet of Parksville.

Wes Illing, owner of Illing Engineering Services, and a volunteer on the Parksville Hamlet Committee, presented a map of zoning recommendations as well as a list of district names, intent, permitted uses, special and accessory uses and development standards.

According to Illing, the “purpose of the Mixed Residential-Business District (MRB) is to promote the balanced growth of both businesses and residential facilities with the hamlet while creating a small town environment attractive to small businesses and families for year-round use with minimal seasonal impacts.”

The principal permitted uses include businesses such as restaurants, art studios and galleries, B&Bs, day care centers, retail, and fitness facilities. Special uses include houses of worship, private schools and residential duplexes, tri-plexes and four-plexes.

Minimum recommended lot size for the MRB district is one-sixth of an acre.

The Parksville Service Commercial District (PSC) would promote the balanced growth of businesses requiring a “larger footprint” than those in the MRB district. While the special uses mirror the MRB district, the principal permitted uses include all of the businesses included in the MRB district, with the addition of single-family detached dwellings, vehicle and equipment sales, hotels/motels, auction barns, mobile home sales, recreational facilities and others. Minimum lot size for the PSC district is one-fourth acre.

The Hamlet Residential (HR) District would “provide areas within walking distance of the Hamlet exclusively for non-seasonal, residential development, which will support the businesses in the MRB district of the Hamlet throughout the entire year.”

Principal permitted uses with the HR district are single-family detached dwellings with attached enclosed garages. Limited special uses are home offices and accessory farms, with the minimum lot area coming in at 10,000 square feet. There is also a maximum development density designation for this district.

A district that would provide areas within biking distance of the hamlet is titled the Rural Residential (RR) District and is exclusively for low-density residential development. Its sole permitted use is for single family homes, with special uses limited to home office and accessory farm. The RR district minimum individual lot size is three acres.

The fifth and final district, designated as Rural Conservation (RC) has, as its sole purpose, to provide areas for farming and to preserve open space. The principal permitted uses are for single-family homes, farming and home offices. Camps, vacation resorts and houses of worship are designated as special uses, and the minimum lot area is 10 acres.

Additionally, the Parksville Hamlet Committee is recommending that within the MRB and PSC Districts “single-family detached dwellings, residential duplexes, tri-plexes and four-plexes shall be all-season dwellings, but shall not be permitted on Main Street, Short Avenue, Park Avenue East or Park Avenue West.”

The town board will take the recommendations under advisement.

In other town business, the speed limit on Parksville Road (the former Route 17) between Main Street and the Town of Rockland line has been changed by the New York State Department of Transportation to 45 mph.