Palatine OKs measure to help fill garden center site

Palatine officials on Monday narrowly approved a measure proponents say will help secure a replacement for Mia's Nursery.

At the end of the summer season, Mia's Nursery owner Wayne Johnson plans to relocate the garden center after nearly a decade at the Quentin Road site near Northwest Highway. He declined to say where he'll move Mia's.

Because Mia's was already in operation before being annexed into the village in 2002, zoning only allowed for a retail nursery, contractor's office and professional offices on the property. That restriction didn't bode well for marketing the property to a potential buyer. As a result, Mia's has been up for sale for the past two years. Johnson finally asked the council that zoning be expanded to a general business classification allowing for nearly 100 types of businesses including a bakery, bicycle shop, beauty salon and insurance agency. Mayor Jim Schwantz proved to be the tiebreaker in a 4-3 vote to approve the zoning change. A few officials including Councilman Brad Helms worried about intrusive or undesirable businesses moving in and the effect on seven adjacent residential properties. In order to maintain control, Helms and Councilmen Dan Varroney and Aaron Del Mar wanted to postpone the vote until a new owner steps forward.

"I have a problem with approving something, not knowing what the use is going to be," Helms said.

Councilman Scott Lamerand said a delay would deter investors from spending time and money into exploring buying the Mia's property.

"A person can't sell it because the only thing that it can be right now is a garden center," Lamerand said. "This gives us the opportunity to grow our economic base. I don't see the anxiety."

Schwantz said he felt comfortable moving forward because special uses such as a drive-through require future council approval. Also, none of the adjacent residents spoke out against the move despite receiving notice.

As additional incentive, attorney James Lennon said Mia's owner will tear down several ancillary buildings, including a dilapidated barn. to beautify the property.