Residents in Wildwood were jubilant when the city's Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) voted to deny land use modifications that would have allowed agricultural research and development activities in a non-urban setting.
Solis Real Estate had proposed to use the Fahr Greenhouse facility located at 18944 St Albans Road for research and development of agricultural products.
The 5-acre property is located on the south side of St. Albans Road, west of Hwy. 100. It had been a family business for decades, growing flowers and plants. Solis acquired the property in 2022 and recently had hoped to conduct research and development there to increase plant yields, improve drought resistance, encourage the use of less soil additives, and promote goals relative to growth in food production.
To that end, Solis needed the city to approve modifications to the site's current land use regulations, as well as a conditional use permit (CUP). However, residents were adamantly opposed to allowing R&D activities at this site, with chemical runoff being a big concern.
Resident Frank Nowicke stated that Solis' agricultural proposal makes no accommodation to contain the runoff that will occur.
"The previous four years, we've been up 10 inches on rain each year," he said. "We're in fractured limestone. Everybody with a well is in trouble; there is no way to seal off all those wells from the runoff."