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Planning and Zoning Commission approves expanded accessory uses for long-standing Route 109 nursery
Summary
The commission voted to accept the planning department's recommended accessory uses for a decades-old plant nursery at Route 109 and Clayton Road, adding an education use and narrowing the definition of "warehouse" amid neighbors' traffic and compatibility concerns.
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve a list of accessory uses for a long-running plant nursery at the Route 109/Clayton Road intersection, adding an educational/classroom use and asking staff to more narrowly define "warehouse." The motion passed following member debate and a roll-call vote that recorded two no votes.
Planning staff told the commission the property has been a plant nursery with greenhouses and a sales room for roughly three decades and currently operates under a conditional-use permit (CUP) tied to the property rather than an individual owner. The department recommended accessory activities that would be compatible with the nursery'including an art gallery with a coffee shop, a small event venue (no fast food), a flower and plant store, a limited office/warehouse for nursery-related supplies, an open-air market and a childcare center (the department noted childcare is already a conditional use in the nonurban-residential district).
"Conditional use permits are not with the business or the individual or entity. They are granted to the property and stay with the property regardless of ownership," the planning representative said, describing how a CUP limits the scale and scope of ancillary activities.
Property owner Mr. Pasiglia, who said he has worked in the nursery business in Wildwood for more than 30 years, told the commission he hopes to preserve the site's aesthetic while creating a modest, revenue-generating use that could sustain him into retirement. "It's a business that I've built on my life, and I'd love for that property to, you know, be a revenue generator for me for the rest of my life," he said.
Several members raised neighborhood concerns. One former council member representing Ward 5 said residents would not appreciate the kind of expansion described, citing traffic and noise worries. Another member prompted staff to clarify the term "warehouse," calling it a scary word for nearby homeowners; staff responded that the intent is a limited storage function for nursery-related supplies and that the dividing line would typically exclude large motorized equipment that would make the site resemble a hardware store.
Members weighed the site's unique context: a signalized intersection and proximity to institutional property (church, schools and a large high-school parking lot) that can both attract customers and constrain residential impacts. The commission ultimately approved the department's recommendation with the amendment to add an education/classroom use and to refine the warehouse definition. The clerk recorded a roll-call vote; two members voted no and the motion passed by the majority present.
The approval does not change the property's land-use designation (it remains nonurban residential) and any intensification would still require a CUP that is reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and subject to city council review. Staff said the department will clarify the accessory-use language and the limits on storage/warehouse activity before the change is finalized.
The decision leaves the existing CUP tied to the property in place and preserves the option for future applicants; the commission also discussed reviewing related master-plan text and policy language to ensure neighborhood protections are explicit.
