By Sara Strong Dingmann Funeral Home took part in its most uneventful conditional use hearing Tuesday. Hearing no objections, the Luverne Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve the conditional use permit that will allow the funeral home and crematorium to be where the Luverne Medical Center is now. The Planning Commission’s action serves as a recommendation to the Luverne City Council, which has final approval. The council seldom varies from committee recommendations. The Medical Center will be vacated in 2005 for its new location on the north edge of Luverne. This is owner Dan Dingmann’s latest attempt to relocate out of the historic funeral home he now operates on West Main Street. Last time around, the hearings for permits got many objections from neighbors of the proposed site, Fledgling Field, which is where the old elementary school was formerly located. His efforts to get a funeral home there on North Highway 75 started five years ago. Besides neighborhood objections, zoning for the residential area is very strict — and funeral homes are not listed as a use in low-density residential zones. This time, Dingmann wanted to get all zoning approval in line before finalizing the sale of any property. The clinic is within a residential-institutional zone, which has less stringent rules for development than the Fledgling Field area has. Funeral homes are listed as a conditional use, so Dingmann just had to apply. Before, he struggled to try to change what was allowed as a "conditional use." The deal for Dingmann to purchase the clinic is just in the form of a memorandum of understanding at this point. To start, he will use parking to the north for funeral home customers. The city will still own the hospital portion of the campus, and it may be more feasible to demolish it and use it for parking . The parking lots north of the Medical Center could then be sold for development. Possible uses for the existing hospital have been studied, and remodeling costs appear too costly for most uses. The city will get ownership of Fledgling Field to use as it sees fit. The city of Luverne is also financing $100,000 of the purchase of the clinic for Dingmann, who will repay the loan in 15 years. The city reasoned this would also initiate more property tax money. The total cost for the site, according to the memorandum of understanding is $235,000. Dingmann will also have to remodel the clinic at a cost of about $300,000.
