Earl Hoover and Libertyville officials are looking for a sunny spot where he and fellow gardeners can plant some seeds and watch them grow.

Hoover, 68, and his wife, Sue Hoover, are looking forward to moving into their new home in the School Street development downtown, but there will be little room to plant a garden.

“As long as I’ve lived in the village, I’ve always had a vegetable garden at each of our three houses. I hate to give that aspect up,” Hoover said, adding Sue Hoover makes a mean ratatouille from their garden’s fresh produce.

He has been in talks with village staff and officials about starting up a village-owned community garden.

Previously, Hoover proposed building a garden along the north side of the Metra railroad tracks near downtown by the summer of 2013, where he said there would be space for 25 plots that would be 20-feet wide by 40-feet long. The cost to prepare the land for planting and to lease the land from Metra would be about $2,500, officials estimated.

However, Libertyville officials at a recent special projects committee meeting expressed concern over the location, saying a garden near the tracks could be dangerous.

“It slopes toward the railroad tracks. When I look at the location, I am a little concerned about people crossing the tracks,” said Assistant Village Administrator Kelly Amidei. “I would prefer to look for an alternative location.”

Trustee Todd Gaines agreed.

“That’s a dangerous spot,” he said.

Mayor Terry Weppler touted the village’s open spaces.

“We have more acres of park space per capita compared to almost any community in the state. I can’t imagine there isn’t any other spot,” Weppler said.

The downtown location near the tracks would be within walking distance for School Street and Main Street residents, and there are few trees in the area, making it ideal to grow plants like tomatoes that need a lot of sun, Hoover said.

However, he added, he doesn’t mind the idea of looking elsewhere.

“If I can find a sunny spot, that would be great,” he said.