Amid complaints and allegations, the Knox Town Board failed to reach supermajority vote on proposed Multi-use Recreational District. 

After years of pushing to create a business district at the intersection of routes 156 and 157, the supervisor changed course to propose a multi-use district instead, which the Knox Town Board backed, 3 to 2.

A town that wants to guard its rural character seems to be of two minds about whether to create additional business districts within its borders.

KNOX— The yet-to-be-named rebuilt building in the Knox hamlet is nearing completion.

Owner and town supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis has a list of possible tenants for his 3,000-square-foot building, which is  being divided into three 1,000-square-foot commercial spaces.

KNOX — Before he flew on missions around the world and lived in Denmark, Michael Morey worked as a teenage pump hand one summer at Margaret “Si” Stevens’s Mobil gas station that developed a reputation for its resistance to modernization.

The area along Route 156 is called "mixed-use" zoning, where residential and commercial uses are allowed. The law is set up with planning board oversight, with the aim to sustain the historic qualities of the district.

Realtor Robert Smith says his niece bought property in Knox, where she has a towing business in the second district, only after the zoning administrator said they would be clear of the town's law.

About 30 people at the February town board meeting spoke in support of Hitmans Towing, a business that has been cited for operating a business in a residential district. Several speakers wanted the board to change the zoning ordinance to accommodate the business.

Knox's first official business district is one step closer to reality as the planning board finalized a map, stretching the length of the hamlet along Route 156.

Kristen Reynders, owner of the towing business, said she was issued an appearance ticket for operating a business in a residential property.