Lake Zurich board to hear plans for new microbrewery, gas station

A plan to turn Mark Cook's Garden Center into a microbrewery and tap room and a proposal for a Thornton's gas station at the intersection of Rand and Miller roads will be presented to the Lake Zurich village board Tuesday.

The board will not take action on either plan but will provide feedback to the presenters.

First, the board will hear from Mark Cook, who after 32 years in the landscape business wants to rename his garden center Bear Tracks and use the building to brew and serve beer, according to village documents.

The plan calls for a 1,900-square-foot tap room, a 2,000-square-foot brewery and bottling area and about 2,000 square feet of outdoor seating areas.

Assistant to the Village Manager Kyle Kordell said a microbrewery at the site of the garden center, which is at 101 E. Main St., is a good fit for the village's central business district.

"Most of the public feedback received so far is very supportive of the microbrewery," Kordell said. "So it fits in that way, too."

Kordell said if Cook's plan goes forward, the village would need to approve a special-use permit because the proposal calls for live entertainment and outdoor seating.

If the plan is approved, Cook hopes to have the new business up and running by September 2019, around the time of his 60th birthday.

The Thornton's gas station plan calls for a 5,000-square-foot convenience store and 14 fuel pumps to be built at the southeast corner of Rand and Miller roads.

The land is vacant, and Flint Creek flows across the southwest portion of the property, according to village documents.

The plan calls for the village to donate 0.32 acres of what is now Manor Park to the developers.

Rick Claes, managing partner at Bluestone Single Tenant Properties, said the donated land would allow developers to square off the property and provide on-site stormwater management.

Claes said his firm proposed a Thornton's at the old Hackney's site in January 2017 and got the message from local residents and elected officials that it wasn't a good fit. Claes said the intersection of Rand and Miller is better because a Walgreens and a Shell gas station already are there.

The village board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the village hall, 70 E. Main St.