Manchester planners: prospective nursery buyer says Farr Greenhouse site could reopen as plant nursery; conditional-use review required

Joe Summers, proprietor of a Manchester aquatic-plant nursery operating as Chilili, told the Manchester Development and Zoning Review Committee on a remote meeting that he plans to consider bidding in an April 30 auction for the roughly 5.5-acre site of the former Farr Greenhouse.

The Department of Planning told the committee that the property predates much of St. Louis County zoning and has been treated as a legal nonconforming use; planners said a new conditional use permit would be required and that the city would hold a public hearing with mailed notice if Summers or another buyer pursues a nursery and retail sales use. Department staff presented aerial photos of the center 5-plus-acre parcel and described the timeline pressure created by the auction.

Why it matters: the parcel at State Highway T between Route 100 and the Franklin County line has been used as a greenhouse/farm complex for decades. Residents opposed a recent proposal by Solus Agriscience over concerns about lighting, noise and potential runoff; committee members said Summers’s…