By Sara StrongThe difference between residential and institutional zones doesn’t seem like much until it comes to your back yard.Effective long-range planning makes towns coherent and prevents zoning surprises from knocking on the doors of neighborhoods or businesses.The city of Luverne is trying to plan for the future and adequately reflect the present. The Planning Commission Thursday, April 24, gathered feedback on city planning from interested residents. Anyone was able to attend, and about 15 did.The previous Comprehensive Plan was finalized in May 1994, but consisted of two years of community-wide efforts led by a firm paid $25,000 to do so. The Commission said it doesn’t feel sure if it can handle rewriting the document itself, but realizes funding a new draft might not fit into the budget.Planning Commission member Pat Baustian said, "Circumstances and times change, which is exactly why the Comprehensive Plan has to be looked at. … We’ve outgrown its usefulness."Baustian said the changes in Luverne are good news because the city hasn’t become stagnant. "Luckily, we have some things we need to look at because the community isn’t dying," he said.Planning Commission member Mike Jarchow said, that with the intense reaction zoning issues receive, the Commission will have to perform a huge balancing act. "Compromise is key," Jarchow said, "especially in a small town where people want to get along."That being said, he pointed out that some individual homeowners will have to accept change for the good of the community in general.Outside of zoningCommission member Bill Ketterling said he’d like the next Comprehensive Plan to address issues that may not be only about zoning — what’s to be done with the hospital and clinic area when the new campus north of town is finished, and how to keep Main Street occupied and busy.The city has grown to the west, north and south since the last Comprehensive Plan, and the meeting made clear that those areas should be addressed.Resident Eddie Deutsch attended the meeting and said that after 43 years of being confined to a wheelchair, he’d like to see more of Luverne handicap assessable. Many of the curbs and sidewalks have been improved, but Deutsch said it’s more difficult than it appears to be mobile.He said he can’t access many businesses, even though federal standards should be in place. Deutsch said he hasn’t reported any because he doesn’t want to cause trouble, but they’ve certainly caused him trouble."We have to make all remodeling handicap accessible," Deutsch said.A specific issue Deutsch has a problem with is Dingmann Funeral Home, which has tried to construct a business on the North Highway 75 green space, Fledgling Field. Deutsch said Dingmann’s current, historical building doesn’t allow him to attend visitations there. People have offered to carry him inside, but he’d rather wait until he can go in on his own.A new funeral home for Dingmann wasn’t allowed as a conditional use because of zoning issues and neighborhood residents’ complaints. Deutsch said, "Don’t let a business not improve property because of a few people squawking."Fledgling FieldEven though the meeting wasn’t about zoning in specific areas of the city, conversation turned to Fledgling Field.Tom Serie is planning to submit a request to rezone the former Fledgling Field as residential-institutional zone. It is currently a low-density residential zone, which allows for few conditional uses. Serie’s application to rezone the area, if passed, will allow a funeral home as a conditional use.He said, "It’s my opinion that the land is mixed use. I think it’s a correct argument that that area is zoned wrong." Pointing to neighboring land use that isn’t simply residential, Serie said the area has changed without rezoning keeping pace.Jim Harner said, "There are going to be spots of non-conforming use within a zone. Whenever you do a revision, there’s bound to be some that don’t fit, but you grandfather them in — you don’t tell them to move out."Harner, a neighbor to Fledgling Field, opposes the business of a funeral home in the residential neighborhood. He also worked on the last Comprehensive Plan and served on past zoning boards.Alex Frick said the notion of rezoning all of Highway 75 as business, which has been discussed, is unfounded.In the previous Comprehensive Plan, neighborhood preservation was a high priority. Frick said preserving the homes and quality of life on Highway 75, Kniss Avenue, is important to the city. Frick said the city should consider developing it into a park, because the area is without a pocket park which most areas of town have.Jim Kirchhofer said that he also sees the merit in preserving existing neighborhoods, outlined in the 1994 Comprehensive Plan. He said, "I hope you would retain that."
