On Thursday, Jan. 13, the Oak Creek Town Board gave a resident permission to move forward in using part of Main Street Park as a part-time retail plant nursery.

Claire Scanlon, owner of Mica Gardens, will still have to come to a lease agreement with the town, but the board members saw value in her vision.

“It would be great for me to be able to grow this business in the community that I live in,” Scanlon told the town board. “Overall, my goal is to be able to grow my business, and I’d like to grow it in town as much as I can.”

Town Manager David Torgler told board members town staff’s main concern was snow removal. While the nursery would only be in use May through December, Torgler said unpredictable, heavy snowstorms can often hit Oak Creek in the spring and fall, and the town plows snow into the park.

“If it snows in November, you have to stack snow there,” Torgler said. “If we get a late snowstorm in April, she may not be able to get in there until later in May.”

Scanlon told board members she wants to keep the nursery open until December so she can sell Christmas trees, as the town does not currently have a place to purchase real Christmas trees.

“I think I can utilize that space and bring some vibrancy to it,” Scanlon said. “Plants are pretty. It’s not like this is going to be some ugly structure.”

Scanlon envisioned the nursery as another way to bring more visitors to Oak Creek’s growing downtown and described the nursery as a stop along the way while visitors are passing through town to listen to weekly live music or eat at local restaurants.

“For those summer months when we have all of those people driving through, I think this could help bring more people to Main Street,” Scanlon said.

Mayor Nikki Knoebel told board members the nursery would help the town achieve its goal of revitalizing the downtown area.

“I think it will look great on that town lot,” Knoebel said.

Sanlon will continue meeting with the town to work out details.