Plans for a funeral home along Indio Boulevard are heading to the Indio Planning Commission for approval.

Joel Casilla, owner of Casillas Family Funeral Home in Coachella, said he wants to lease a 10,000-square-foot building that was once Connie's Family Restaurant. If approved, it would become the second funeral home in the city.

“I think putting a funeral home is going to beautify it even more than leaving it a vacant property,” the Indio resident said Tuesday.

The facility would include a 5,000-square-foot chapel and a 5,000-square-foot reception room for attendees.

Casilla would also build a 990-square-foot hearse garage.

The Indio Planning Commission was expected to hold a public hearing on the matter on Oct. 28 but decided instead to continue it until Dec. 9 to give city staff more time to prepare a report on the project.

The old restaurant building, which has been vacant for more than a year, is a good location because of its 138 parking stalls and its visibility on Indio Boulevard, Casilla said.

“I would pass by it on my way home, and I thought it would be a good place for the funeral home,” he said.

Others disagree.

Aaron Segal, general manager of the nearby Best Western Date Tree Hotel, is against having a funeral home in front of the Indio hotel.

Segal said he is not against the business itself and does want to see the vacant building used.

“Funeral homes are very good businesses, but I don't think it sets a nice tone for travel here,” he said. “People are going to be turned off seeing a funeral outside of their hotel window.”

Planning Commissioner Mickie Reed is not keen on the idea either.

“I think it is a very inappropriate place to put (a funeral home), and it would be devastating to the hotel there,” she said.

But property co-owner Zee Der Ghazarian said she is glad there is interest in the building. She and husband Viken bought the property in 2004.

“We are thrilled that someone wants to come in there and make it look really nice and conduct business,” she said.

When it was built in the 1960s, the property was a 5,000-square-foot Denny's restaurant and a bar called The Amigo Room. Those businesses have been closed for at least 20 years, Der Ghazarian said.

In 2004, the building was Niko's Restaurant for a year and then Connie's Family Restaurant, which closed at least a year ago.