The city of Hermantown is planning to rezone two acres of land from public to residential. Now, the area was once known as a pet cemetery. Although the site has been abandoned for decades.

However, there’ve been concerns from some residents about the rezoning. We spoke with Hermantown city officials, about the rezoning request. They said the land is now overgrown and there haven’t been any new burials for pets in over 20 years.

Joe Wicklund, the City of Hermantown’s Communication and Community Engagement, says the land hasn’t been maintained for several years.

“It’s very much a residential area and the previous owner kind of utilized this land in this very unique way. The challenge for folks who haven’t seen the property, is this has not been maintained as a pet cemetery in more than two decades. No new pets have been placed there,” Wicklund said. “There are no records of any of the actions that took place there. So it was always privately done and no one has been visiting the site regularly as far as anyone can tell for the better part of two decades.”

Wicklund says the rezoning will still be voted on by the Hermantown City Council. Although the if the land is rezoned, it’s possible the future home could be built on the two acres of land.

“The changes of actually zoning something from public to residential don’t really necessarily open it up. This is very much residential zoning and residential property,” Wicklund said. “So if it does move forward in that change, that’s what could be potentially expected there. Or it could still be vacant land, but it would just be more appropriate compared to the things around it.”

The Hermantown City Council will discuss the rezoning at the next two city council meetings. The first meeting is on august 19th and the second meeting is in September. Also for other stories with Hermantown you can read more here.