Darien Farm Still Creates Bottlenecks For Neighbors: Officials

DARIEN, IL – Darien officials said this week that a farm that offers activities just outside the city limit is still creating traffic bottlenecks in a local neighborhood.

Last fall, the City Council approved $8,300 to install a shoulder on Kearney Road, where the Honey Bee Gardens Farm is. The business agreed to cover the costs.

At Monday's council meeting, though, Mayor Joseph Marchese, who lives in the neighborhood, said people are not parking all the way over on the shoulder. So driving through remains difficult, he said.

"The parking is a real issue because, for residents in my subdivision, that's the only way in and the only way out," said Marchese, who lives on Kentwood Court in the Brookeridge Creek subdivision.

Last weekend, the mayor said, a bottleneck occurred, where an ambulance would be unable to pass, let alone a fire truck.

Marchese suggested it may take a police officer to monitor the situation during high-traffic times. The police costs, he said, would then be charged to the farm.

As he has before, Marchese said the farm was a positive addition to the community.

"(The owner) made the property look beautiful," he said. "What she has done there looks gorgeous."

Dan Gombac, the city's municipal services director, said an additional "no parking anytime" sign and temporary barricades were put up.

In an email to Patch on Thursday, Cindy Perkins LaRocca, the farm's owner, said progress had been made on the parking issue, thanks to Darien.

"We definitely had some glitches on our opening day for our children's event on Friday, June 9th. I think we solved the problem with the additional signage and the temporary barricades," LaRocca said. "Honey Bee Gardens Farm is open to the public for a total of 6 hours a week! 3 hours on Fridays and 3 hours on Saturday. And this is for about 10 weeks of the entire year. The new no parking signs and the widened streets have helped."

She continued, "Three cars did disregard the No Farm Parking signs onto Creekside and they were ticketed. Making the 'No Farm Parking Beyond This Point' larger and in blue will absolutely help. The goal is that no farm cars park on Creekside in the Brookcreek subdivision. Darien has made every effort to partner with us, and we are so grateful for the community support!"

The farm welcomes the public from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays from June to October.