Daily Herald opinion: Community character: ‘Flower farm’ could be nice attraction - if it can fit village’s goals
As a practical matter, few Chicago suburbs may be able to identify with the zoning controversy still simmering in Barrington Hills. But its fundamental parameters, controlling the local quality of life, are familiar to any town.
Barrington Hills, an affluent community where properties range from one acre to more than 10 acres, is uniquely situated and managed to offer, as its website promises, “the best of both country and suburban living.” In recent months, residents and leaders have had to wrestle with a question common to every suburb, whatever its demographics: Will a new proposal disrupt the personality of our town?
In this case, it is whether a couple’s passion for flowers and nature can be accommodated as a business. Chris Yamamoto and his wife Sarah Gul want to continue operating the Little Ducky Flower Farm they have nurtured on their nearly seven-acre property along Dundee Road in Barrington Hills.
Two years ago, Yamamoto and Gul began allowing people to pick flowers from the fields where they grew a variety of plants and cared for 12 ducks. Things started small, but before long, 60 people a season were coming to the site to enjoy the natural ambiance and take some plants home. In the second season, the number had grown to 200 — and in order to cover their costs, the couple began establishing hours of operation and charges for picking flowers.
That, village administrators determined, transformed the quaint bucolic setting into a commercial concern, in violation of local zoning ordinances. They forced Yamamoto and Gul to cease the operation. The couple twice came to the zoning board with proposals for zoning designations that could allow them to continue providing “agricultural experiences that give our community a chance to connect with the land in a meaningful way.”
Twice they were turned away. A local resident explained the fundamental issue: “Barrington Hills is such a unique community,” said Kimberly Van Fossan. “We have to be absolutely vigilant if it is going to go forward in the same way that we have enjoyed it.”
It is easy to understand community leaders’ reluctance. Although Yamamoto and Gul have maintained fairly strict controls on the operation, the potential for a business that quickly grew from a handful of nature-loving guests to a couple hundred paying customers can be disquieting for a town protective of its residential character.
So, in that sense, it is wrong to see this situation as a purely paranoid reaction to a harmless undertaking. At the same time, though, one hopes the couple and the village can find an arrangement that suits everyone’s goals. If any town has the flexibility to accommodate a non-traditional proposal, it would seem to be Barrington Hills, which boasts its potential to “give residents more freedom to live how they want.”
After the second zoning board defeat last week, Yamamoto remained hopeful. He told our Steve Zalusky, “We do have the ability to keep applying. It would really be nice to have people back on the farm.”
It would be nice if a way were found to make that vision a reality, understanding that any town, even one with characteristics few of its neighbors can imagine, has a right and obligation to manage issues in ways that represent and protect the interests of its residents.