Skip to main content

Hwy 75 business struggles with state

By Sara QuamAfter a year of trying to figure out setbacks, driveways and parking spaces, Vince Gacke isn’t sure he wants to open a restaurant to accompany his existing restaurant equipment company.Gacke said at a Tuesday Planning Commission meeting that he might apply to the Luverne City Council to add a driveway to his property along Hatting Street. The property he is considering turning into a restaurant is the blue building across from Sharkee’s on the corner of Highway 75 and Hatting."My predicament is, how much can I keep putting into a building?" he said.Gacke said he’s been working on the business since October 2005 but because it’s on a state road, state approval was needed.At first, he was told he had to remove a driveway entrance off Highway 75 because the property was changing uses. Then, five months later, the state said he had to remove the driveway and widen another because of safety issues exiting and entering the highway near an intersection.Planning Commission members told Gacke they couldn’t help him in his predicament."It’s not us asking them, it’s them telling us how it’s going to be," Chairman Pat Baustian said.Possible new body shopA body shop may open in the former Align-Tech building on Harrison Street in Luverne. The city is requesting further information on chemicals and hazardous materials in order to ensure fire codes are met before granting a conditional use permit in the Community Commercial Zone.The Planning Commission will likely vote on its recommendation to the Luverne City Council June 5.Since the business would already be obligated to meet state and federal environmental regulations, the city won’t have to be involved in that part of the conditions placed on the business in order to operate there.Trailer park expansionDean Christians, owner of Maple Aire Trailer Park in Luverne, requested to be allowed to add six or seven more lots to his park.The Planning Commission said there are nuisance and code violations currently on some of the properties that need to be remedied before an expansion is allowed. Christians owns some of the trailers and others are owned by the residents. The land itself is leased by the residents.

You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.