“Smart Growth” or not?
An environmental group is trying to block construction of a funeral home in Harmony TWP, New jersey. The Harmony Township Land Use Board has already signed off on plans by Tom Balka, of McFadden Funeral Home in Belvidere, but The League for Real Smart Growth has sued, claiming the proposed construction violates township ordinances regarding sloped lots.
Another Converted Church
Carr-Yager Funeral Home, in Columbia, Missouri, is buying a former Church of God facility for use as a funeral home. Columbia City Council gave its approval to a rezoning request Monday night. There’s more coverage at the Missiourian website.
Carr-Yager also has a chapel in Fayette, Missouri.
Building Still Serves Families
A church near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania is gaining new life. The former St. Joseph’s Church in Port Griffith is being converted to a funeral home, by a member of the old St. Joseph’s Parish. The Township Zoning Board approved the rezoning, with the only stipulation being an opaque fence around the back of the funeral home.
Hide The Funeral Home
The Cornelius, North Carolina Planning Board wants a funeral home to build a buffer behind their proposed building, so traffic on nearby I-70 won’t see the back of the building. Here’s what’s there now, if Google Street View has the address right:
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The planning board doesn’t want signage that’s viewable from the freeway, either, nor do they want drivers to be able to see the hearses parked there.
The funeral home is wanting to renovate a 30-year-old structure that’s currently not in use, and provide a few more jobs, and a valuable service to the community, and all vice chairman John Hettwer can come up with is
“I’m disappointed that we’ll be left with a less-than-desirable structure many years into the future.”
How disappointing. It’s a funeral home. Death is a fact of life. Why try to hide the facility? That only adds to the stigma surrounding funeral homes. This brings to mind the Gladstone quote:
Show me the manner in which a nation or community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals.
Crematorium Planned in Missouri
Waynesville, MO, southwest of St Louis, may be getting a crematorium. Waynesville Memorial Chapel plans to install a crematory if City Council affirms the zoning recommendation Thursday evening. The city Planning and Zoning Commission approved the application Tuesday evening.
Affected residents had several questions about the facility and how it might affect property values, but most seemed satisfied with the answers from owner Randy Walters.
Wikipedia has a good entry on cremation.