The Liverpool Planning Board wants the village to consider retaining ownership of at least one of two village-owned pieces of property on the basin block. Bounded by lower First Street, South Willow Street and Lake Drive, the block is the site of ongoing development.

Two years ago, the Limp Lizard Bar & Grill opened at 201 First St., and last year the White Water Pub opened at 110 S. Willow St. while appeThaizing opened at 105 First St.

This year, Val Lamont’s Liverpool Properties LLC, which owns the Limp Lizard and the White Water properties, applied for permission to add a deck at Limp Lizard. The proposal also calls for expanding the mid-block parking lot to 49 spaces, which would be shared by Limp Lizard and the White Water.

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s most successful restaurateur, John Gormel, plans to open the Barking Gull at 116 S. Willow St. For the better part of a decade, the Gull has operated exclusively as a venue for private parties, but Gormel has installed an Italian-made wood-fired pizza oven in preparation of opening to the public. Plans to open in May have been pushed back to autumn at the earliest.

At the village board meeting in July, Gormel offered to buy the two village-owned parcels, but Mayor Gary White said, “There are still a whole lot of things to be determined.” Engineers are studying drainage issues, and attorneys are researching existing easements on the block.

At the Sept. 16 village board meeting, White read a letter received from Joe Ostuni Jr., chairman of the village planning board.

The planners recommended that the village retain ownership of a 40-by-200-foot parcel running from mid-block to Lake Drive. The board also urged village trustees to “incorporate the lane as part of an appropriate development scheme for projects in this area.”

Ostuni pointed out that Village Engineer Greg Sgromo suggested surfacing the 40-foot-wide lane “to accommodate for ingress and egress of vehicular traffic and the creation of safe pedestrian access.”

Regarding a second 20-by-178-foot strip of land connecting South Willow Street between the White Water Pub and the Barking Gull, the planning board recommended “that any disposition of that property (or retention of the property) provide for the creation of a walkway for pedestrian access to the interior portions of this mixture of parcels.”

Ostuni noted that such pedestrian access to new developments is supported in the village’s comprehensive plan adopted several years ago.

In July, Gormel said that if he could purchase that parcel, he’d use it to enlarge the Barking Gull parking lot.

Gormel, who owns The Retreat, The Cobblestone, the Barking Gull and Dips & Dogs, an adjacent ice-cream stand, has been attending all meetings of the trustees and the planning board over the past several months. On Sept. 16 he was accompanied by his attorney, Wendy Marsh from the Syracuse firm Hancock and Estabrook.

The trustees hope to proceed in a way that will be “good for everybody’s best interest,” White said.

Three DWIs in August

Via a memo, Liverpool Police Chief Don Morris informed the village board at its Sept. 16 meeting that officers issued 109 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws during August.

In addition three arrests were made for driving while intoxicated and three traffic accidents were investigated.

Officers made 189 residential checks during the month responding to 332 complaints or calls for service.

The trustees approved the hiring of Fred Brough as a part-time LPD officer. Brough, a native of the village, recently retired from the Syracuse Police Department. “He has served in several capacities for the SPD,” noted Mayor White. “He’s a well-rounded guy and Chief Morris speaks highly of him.”