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P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 6 4 / F A L L 2 0 0 6

F E AT U R E

Planning for Cemeteriesby Valerie Capels & Wayne Senville

Planning for new orexpanded cemetery space isa challenging issue, often given little attention. The first,obvious step is to acknowledge theneed to address this issue. Like thesubject of death itself, most peopledon’t think about cemeteries if theydon’t have to. And planners, itseems, are no different.

Do you plan for your communi-ty’s roadway network? Your hous-ing needs? Your park system? Yourschools? Cemeteries deserve thesame attention and should beincorporated into the planningprocesses that cities and townsundertake for other types of infra-structure, community facilities, andservices.

Over 2.5 million Americans areexpected to die this year.1 The vastmajority will be buried. Yet a num-ber of communities, especiallythose more fully developed, arehard pressed to find cemetery spacewithin their borders. Newspaperaccounts across the country reportcase after case of neighborhood opposi-tion to cemetery proposals. At the sametime, maintenance of existing cemeteries

has become a growing concern, as ceme-tery revenues fail to keep pace with thecost of upkeep.

While the subject of cemetery plan-ning can be complicated, this article willaddress some of the more basic issuesthat planning commissioners – and pro-fessional planners – should be aware of.

ASSESS THE CAPACITYOF EXISTING CEMETERIES

How many cemeteries are in oraround your community and whatis their remaining capacity? If yourcommunity is among those havinglimited (or no) land for new ceme-tery space within its jurisdiction, itmay be necessary to take a regionalperspective toward addressing resi-dents’ future needs.

Assessing capacity is usuallystraightforward; but there are somefactors that need to be considered.People often assume that cemeter-ies are owned and managed bysome form of governmental or reli-gious entity and when the timecomes to make burial plans, spacewill be available for them. Few realize that many cemeteries arecommercial ventures owned by cor-porations, or are owned by reli-gious, ethnic, or other organiza-tions. They may have policies thatlimit certain types of interments,and may also choose not to beforthcoming with information

about their capacity or future plans.In contrast, cemetery commissions –

typically accountable to the local govern-ing body – oversee many, if not most,municipally owned cemeteries. Localcemetery commissions will have infor-mation regarding the capacity of public

Forecasting Capacity:Forecasting cemetery space needs to

take into account the nature of the site’stopography, as well as the extent of infra-structure, and landscaping. For example,assume a cemetery occupies 100 acres ofland, but 50 are already occupied bygravesites, 30 acres are not useable

because of the site’s topography; and 10acres are used by administrative and main-tenance buildings. That leaves 10 acresavailable. Also assume that 1 acre can contain 1,000 gravesites (a rule of thumbis that between 800 and 1,200 gravesiteswill fit on an acre). Also assume that salesof lots have averaged about 700 per year.

The remaining capacity would be: • 10 acres x 1,000 sites per acre

= 10,000 potential sites• 10,000 potential sites divided by 700

sales per year = approx. 14-15 yrs.This kind of basic forecast would need

to be adjusted to take into account factorssuch as local cremation rates.

1 The National Center for Health Statistics reportsslightly over 2.4 million deaths in 2002, the mostrecent year for which this data is available:<www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths. htm>. Given cur-rent trends, this projects to slightly over 2.5 million in2006.

Savannah residents take pride in their historic cemeteries, whichalso draw many visitors to the city. Here, a gravesite sculpture inthe Bonaventure Cemetery.

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Cremation TrendsAccording to the CremationAssociation of North America

(CANA), a 1,200 member trade group,more than one in four Americans areturning to cremation. Thirty years ago,the proportion was less than one in ten.CANA projects that by 2010, more than35 percent of those dying will be cremat-ed.2 These figures vary significantlydepending on the social and culturalcomposition of different areas. For exam-ple, Washington State and Hawaii hadthe highest rate of cremation at 63 per-cent in 2003, while Tennessee had thelowest at 3 percent.

CANA also reports that over 80 per-cent of cremated remains are placed incontainers; just 16 percent in caskets.Some 40 percent of all cremains aredelivered to a cemetery – of those, 59percent are buried (typically in smallerplots), while 26 percent are placed incolumbaria, and 15 percent scattered inareas dedicated for this use.3 One impli-cation of the increase in cremation is thatthere will be somewhat less pressure forcemetery space, especially in areas withhigher rates of cremation. But this alsomeans that communities will need toprovide for the siting of mausoleums andcolumbaria, a point we will return tolater in this article.

nity. Over time these cemeteries haveoften become “landlocked,” hemmed inby development. While in some statescemeteries (like railroads or public utili-ties) by law have the power of eminentdomain – which could be used to takeland for cemetery expansion – this wouldtypically be an expensive, not to mentionpolitically unpopular, option.

Sometimes creative planning can helpexpand the capacity of an existing ceme-tery. One way is by incorporating colum-baria and mausoleums, which occupymuch less space per person than typicalburial plots.

In Rome, Georgia, where the historicMyrtle Hill Cemetery is nearing capacity,the City of Rome is planning on buildinga new mausoleum and columbaria. Acemetery master plan prepared in 2004(partially funded by a grant from theNational Park Service through the Geor-gia Department of Natural Resources’Historic Preservation Division) foundthat construction of mausoleums andcolumbaria “would blend into the exist-ing appearance of the cemetery, despitetheir divergence from historic burialpractices.” The plan noted that “sinceseveral slopes and terraces are in need ofwalls, these locations are the ideal placesto start placing columbaria.”

alone will not translate into the numberof burials that will be needed in the next10, 20, or 100 years. The number of resi-dents who have moved away and want tobe buried “back home” may or may notbe offset by others in the communityseeking to be buried elsewhere.

Some communities, particularly thosewhich attract tourists, have found thattheir rural cemetery lots are being pur-chased by people from larger metropoli-tan areas, in part because of their quaintcharm and because they are often muchless expensive. As a result, some ceme-tery organizations have adopted policieslimiting sales of lots to residents ordescendants of former residents.

It is also important to consult withfuneral industry professionals in yourarea regarding the trend toward crema-tion or other alternatives, as this canaffect the current and future need forcemetery space.

ISSUES IN PLANNINGFOR CEMETERIES

If more cemetery space is needed, canan existing cemetery be expanded – ormust a new site, in or outside of yourcommunity, be found?

Existing cemeteries, especially inurbanized areas, are often located onland that was, at the time the cemeterywas built, on the outskirts of the commu-

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cemeteries, but not necessarily of religiousor other privately owned cemeteries.

FORECAST NEED

One way to forecast need is to look atthe likely mortality rate of the currentand projected population. Most statehealth departments produce statisticalmortality rates for the different jurisdic-tions they serve. However, this figure

Small neighborhood cemeteries, like this one in Burlington, Vermont, are usually “good neighbors,”securing open space in the heart of residential areas. Just ask Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss, who lives justbehind this cemetery.

2 In 2003, over 28% of deaths resulted in crema-tion. National Vital Statistics, Vol. 52, Number22, 6/10/2004. In numbers, of the 2,423,000deaths in the U.S. in 2003, 696,000 were cremat-ed. Canadian cremation rates are considerablyhigher, standing at 47% in 2002.

3 Detailed cremation statistics, including state-by-state totals, are available at CANA’s web site: <www.cremationassociation.org/html/statistics.html>

Planning for Cemeteriescontinued from previous page


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MausoleumsMausoleums are buildings whichcontain crypts for entombment

of deceased individuals. They often alsoinclude columbarium niches for crematedremains. Mausoleums can be freestandingbuildings, or be part of a larger facility, suchas a church. The word mausoleum derivesfrom the enormous tomb of King Mausolus –a Persian ruler in the mid-4th century BC.His mausoleum, located in southwest Turkey,is considered one of the Seven Wonders ofthe Ancient World.

A 16th century engraving by Marten Heemskerckof the Mausoleum of Mausolus.

Above: Mausoleums areoften attractively land-scaped, like this one inBoca Raton, Florida .

Left: The Chicago PostOffice Building, new in1932, closed in 1996. Renovation proposals rang-ing from residential condosto giant auto showroomshave fallen through. Woulda proposal to convert it into the world’s largestmausoleum make sense?

Although Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Blue-Sky Mausoleum for Buffalo, New York’s ForestLawn Cemetery in 1928, it was not built until 2004, 45 years after Wright’s death. For more details: <www.blueskymausoleum.com>.

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4 Douglas Keister, “A Brief History of the CommunityMausoleum,” American Cemetery Magazine (1999);available at: <www.daddezio.com/cemetery/ arti-cles/mausoleum.html>.

5 Lynn Becker, “Monument Mori,” online in Repeat:An Archive of Writings on Architecture in Chicagoand the World: <lynnbecker.com/repeat/post/post.htm>.


According to Douglas Keister, author ofGoing Out in Style: The Architecture of Eternity,a book on the history of the mausoleum, one of the most ambitious community mau-soleum projects in the U.S. (and the world’slargest Catholic mausoleum) is Chicago’sQueen of Heaven complex. Opened in 1954,and enlarged since then, it has room for over33,000 bodies and is about 75 percent filled.4

Another major U.S. mausoleum is InglewoodPark Cemetery, in Los Angeles County. Keis-ter notes that it has “over 90,000 mausoleumspaces on its 350 acres, with plans to buildeven more.”

And what’s on the horizon? Architect JohnRonan has suggested transforming Chicago’sabandoned 2.5 million square foot, 16 floorhigh, post office building into the largestmunicipal mausoleum on earth. Ronan’s pro-posal – part of a 2005 “visionary Chicagoarchitecture” exhibit – is designed, in part, torespond to the increasingly scarce availabilityof land for cemeteries in Chicago.5

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should be sold for homes or some otheruse that would generate tax revenue.7

According to borough planning direc-tor Max J. Best, “only three percent of theland in the jurisdiction is private and therest is governmental.” When the bor-ough was formed in 1964, the State ofAlaska promised to give it ten percent ofthe area’s vacant and unappropriatedland (approximately 155,000 acres) forcommunity development. “We still haveapproximately 25 percent to select,” saidBest. Asked about planning ahead andsetting aside land for cemeteries, Bestsaid, “The Kenai Peninsula BoroughComprehensive Plan includes a chapteron cemeteries. But land management isstill in its infancy here and we’re not evencrawling yet.”

When new cemetery space is needed,it is not always welcomed. Proposals toexpand an existing cemetery or establisha new one near a residential neighbor-hood often draw opposition from resi-dents, citing concerns about loweredproperty values, crime, and a general discomfort being near such visible re-minders of human mortality.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assem-bly in southeast Alaska recently facedthis reaction when numerous citizensspoke out against their plan to transfer a10-acre parcel to the City of Soldotna foruse as a cemetery – or as it was proposed,a Memorial Park. The parcel is near anelementary school, and many residentsexpressed concern that it would detractfrom the family-oriented nature of thearea. In addition to concerns expressedthat the cemetery would lower propertyvalues, citizens felt the parcel of land

Historic CemeteryResourcesFinancial assistance can

sometimes be found for repairs to historiccemeteries. The best place to start is withyour State Historic Preservation Office.They can usually tell you what fundsmight be available to your city or town,and how to seek it.

In Kentucky, for example, a statecemetery preservation program provideslocal grants for cemetery maintenance,preservation, and restoration. Last yearthe Lexington-Fayette County govern-ment received a $25,000 matching grantfor Lexington’s historic Cove HavenCemetery. The grant will be used forlandscaping and removal of dead trees;paving the cemetery’s interior road;archival research on those buried at CoveHaven; and the creation of a computerdatabase.

Most states, however, do not havegrant programs specifically targeted at historic cemeteries. Instead, grantapplications for cemeteries usually must compete againstapplications for other historicpreservation projects.

The Texas Historical Com-mission offers the followingadditional fundraising sugges-tions, especially relevant forsmaller cemeteries:6

• Form a nonprofit cemeteryorganization.• Solicit donations from descendants of those buried in the cemetery.• Research bank records forunused trust funds designated to maintain specific graves.• Request help from your munic-ipality; even if no funds are available, they may be able usecity or county equipment tomaintain the cemetery for healthand safety reasons.• Seek donations from associated businesses, such as funeral homes and monument companies.


7 Generally, only cemeteries not operated for profitare exempt from property taxation. Indeed, thisexemption is included in at least several state consti-tutions. In some states, this exemption is not availableif burial is restricted on the basis of race, color, nation-al origin, or ancestry.


Cities of the Dead, Land of the Living

“One of our pleasantest visits was to Père laChaise, the national burying-ground of France,the honored resting-place of some of her great-est and best children, the last home of scores ofillustrious men and women who were born tono titles, but achieved fame by their own energyand their own genius. It is a solemn city ofwinding streets, and of miniature marble tem-ples and mansions of the dead gleaming white

from out of a wilderness of foliage and freshflowers. Not every city is so well peopled as this,or so ample an area within its walls. Few palacesexist in any city, that are so exquisite in design,so rich in art, so costly in material, so graceful,so beautiful.”– Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad or the NewPilgrim’s Progress, American Publishing Company,Hartford, Conn., 1888.

6 From Preserving Historic Cemeteries:Texas Preservation Guidelines; availableto download at: <www.thc.state.tx.us/publications/guidelines/Preservecem.pdf>.

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Cemeteries are also finding historictours one way of generating revenue tooffset expenses. For example, the 57-acrehistoric Cypress Lawn Cemetery – one ofthe two Grand Victorian cemeteries inthe Bay Area of California – now offerstours and lectures (through the CypressLawn Heritage Foundation) to raisemoney to protect the cemetery’s art andarchitecture and landscaped grounds.

Brooklyn, New York’s Green-WoodCemetery, founded in 1838 and burialgrounds for nearly 600,000 people(including Horace Greeley, HenryGeorge, and Leonard Bernstein), nowsponsors not only historic tours, butother special events.9 With only a fiveyear supply of cemetery space left,Green-Wood is scrambling for ways tocover the loss in revenues from havingfew remaining plots for sale.

Cemeteries are more than cities of thedead; they also meet the needs of the liv-ing. Besides serving the obvious remem-brance of family and friends for a lostloved one, cemeteries can meet broaderneeds, such as providing valued openspace and park land, and offeringinsights into the community’s culturalheritage. During the 19th century, ceme-teries were oft visited places. Many Amer-icans viewed cemeteries not as places toavoid, but as places to treasure and regu-larly visit for contemplation. In someplaces this attitude towards cemeterieshas never been lost.

In Brunswick, Maine, cemeteries areaddressed as part of the town’s “Parks,Recreation & Open Space Plan.” Inter-estingly, the Plan includes photos notjust of several of the town’s scenic andnatural areas, but of its cemeteries.Among the Plan’s recommendations are ones focused on the accessibility and maintenance of the town’s historiccemeteries.

In 2004, Vail Memorial Park was cre-ated on an 11-acre site in Vail, Coloradoas a place for the living to memorializethe dead. It is designed to be more like a

of the few municipalities in the countryto hire full-time professional conserva-tors on staff. Savannah’s cemeteries are sowell-cared for and maintained, they’vebecome major tourist destinations,attracting visitors interested in learningmore about the city’s history or who justwant to stroll the beautiful grounds.

In Elmira, New York, the city recentlybudgeted $100,000 (to be matched byfunds from the State of New York) torepair portions of its historic WoodlawnCemetery. The cemetery, burial place ofauthor Mark Twain, hall-of-fame foot-baller Ernie Davis, and many other Elmi-ra luminaries, had suffered from years ofneglect. In supporting the allocation ofthese funds – a large amount for this city of just over 30,000 people – Council-woman Susan Skidmore noted that “the condition of the property is reallyreprehensible, and if we want to attractmore people and build tourism, it’s cer-tainly a destination point we need to takecare of.”8

The City of Soldotna has since aban-doned its plan and the mayor is lookingfor land somewhere else. A 2002 Soldot-na Cemetery Task Force report identifiedother potential sites for a cemetery with-in the city, including 11 acres at the ArcLake Recreation site and 80 acres off theend of the Soldotna airport, but accord-ing to Anna Johnson with the SoldotnaPlanning Department, “the Alaska RoadsCommission gave the (Arc Lake) proper-ty to the City to be used for recreationalpurposes only.”

In some cities, cemeteries are viewedin a more positive light. Savannah, Geor-gia, for example, takes pride in its his-toric neighborhood cemeteries. So muchso, the city in 1992 transferred responsi-bility for its cemeteries from its Park andTree Department to a newly createdCemetery Department, and became one

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8 As reported in the Elmira Star-Gazette (May 12,2006).

9 See Green-Wood’s web site for detailed information:<www.green-wood.com>.

Mark Twain’s grave marker (above) at Elmira’sWoodlawn Cemetery is 12 feet tall, or marktwain. Instead of the usual flowers, a visitor leftsomething (inset) Twain undoubtedly would havebetter appreciated.

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marble industry. A number of visitors tocentral Vermont are drawn to visit thesespecial places. But of even more impor-tance, the cemeteries connect local resi-dents to an important (and continuing)aspect of their city’s heritage.

ZONING FOR CEMETERIES

State statutes typically contain health-related standards governing cemeteries.Laws vary from state to state on howcemeteries may be regulated at the locallevel. Most municipalities have sometype of ordinance that addresses theoperational aspects of establishing andmaintaining a cemetery in their jurisdic-tion. Many also regulate the location andcharacteristics of cemeteries throughtheir zoning code. Some communitiesinclude cemeteries among the list of per-mitted or conditional uses in various dis-tricts; others designate and definespecific cemetery zoning districts. Mostordinances also require that they belocated away from floodplains and sensi-tive environmental areas.

Other standards often found in zon-ing ordinances include: minimum parcelsizes; minimum setback limits; screeningrequirements; drainage standards; maxi-mum density standards for grave lots;standards for accessory structures anduses; and even special platting require-ments for burial lots.11 “Typical Zoning

Requirements”

Given the increased trend towardscremation – and the fact that cremationcan reduce demand for new cemeteryspace – communities should also provide

park than a traditional cemetery and onlyaccepts cremains in biodegradable con-tainers, which are then placed beneath aslab of stone. Individual memorials arearranged to be compatible with the nat-ural landscape. The Park’s policy is that“No formal carved headstones or monu-ments are available. Memorial inscrip-tions [are] placed on natural stones inlow dry stacked walls, on native boulders… and on flagstone slabs along pathwaysof crushed stone.”

According to Vail Community Devel-opment Director Russ Forrest, the idea ofthe memorial park evolved after attemptsto establish a new cemetery had failed.As Forrest notes, many citizens had anaversion to the idea of a traditional ceme-tery.10

Our older cemeteries are often richwith collections of fine sculpture and dis-tinctive architecture. According to SusanNichols, director of Save Outdoor Sculp-ture, a national non-profit, more ceme-tery managers are recognizing thatsculpture enhances the cemetery’s valueas a community resource and the public’sappreciation of those memorialized bythe sculpture.

In Barre, Vermont, local cemeteriesinclude hundreds of headstones andmemorials sculpted by some of theworld’s finest artisans, skilled immigrantsfrom Italy who came to work in the city’s

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The main entrance to Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, designed by Richard Upjohn, was built in 1861.


10 For more details: <www.vailmemorialpark.org>.

Respect for Our VeteransRespect for our veterans has long

included providing for their burial needs.This has been met by both national andstate veterans cemeteries.

The U.S. Department of VeteransAffairs is facing the challenge of providingburial space for a rapidly aging veteranpopulation. The VA has determined that a national cemetery should be availablewherever more than 170,000 veterans livewithin a 75-mile service radius. As aresult, the VA is currently developing newcemeteries, scheduled for opening in thenext few years, to serve veterans inAtlanta, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Pitts-burgh, Sacramento, and the South Floridaarea. Congress has also authorized the VAto establish new national cemeteries inBakersfield, California; Birmingham,Alabama; Jacksonville and Sarasota, Flori-da; Columbia-Greenville, South Carolina;and southeastern Pennsylvania.

In addition to constructing and maintaining national cemeteries, the VA provides grants for the construction,expansion, and improvement of state veterans cemeteries.

The first phase of the New Hampshire StateVeterans Cemetery was completed in 2004.The cemetery includes both gravesites andmausoleums. It is located in a beautiful wood-ed setting in the small town of Boscawen,north of Concord.


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Typical ZoningRequirements

Minimum lot sizes. Somecommunities establish minimum lot sizesfor cemeteries. Typical is Fayette County,Georgia’s, requirement of ten acres for ahuman cemetery and five acres for a petcemetery.

Setback provisions. Many regulationsestablish a minimum distance betweencemetery buildings and grave sites andthe cemetery’s property lines.

Appurtenances and Associated LandUses. Cemeteries often include accessoryuses or structures, such as mausoleums,storage vaults, chapels, and columbaria.In some areas, retail uses such as flowershops, monument sales, and relatedtrades may be appropriate. Crematoriamay or may not be associated with thelocation of the cemetery and may be sub-ject to less opposition if located awayfrom them. Many zoning regulationsallow them as permitted uses in industrialzones. In some cases, crematoria may bemore appropriately associated with funeralhomes and related services.

Design Review. Communities mayinclude special design criteria for historiccemeteries. For example, Atlanta, Georgia’s Oakland Cemetery LandmarkDistrict zoning regulation is intended “to ensure that future development andmaintenance considerations are sensitiveto and compatible with the unique character of this irreplaceable portion of Atlanta’s heritage; and to preserve Oakland Cemetery as a park-like oasis for passive recreation in this 19th centurysculpture garden.”

Other Requirements. As we’ve noted, in addition to zoning ordinance criteria,cemeteries typically need to meet otherstate and local requirements, oftenfocused on ensuring public health. Somecommunities also require the local gov-erning body to specifically approve anynew or expanded cemeteries.

for mausoleums and columbaria. TheGovernment and Legal Affairs TaskForce of the International Cemetery andFuneral Association recommends that:“Zoning ordinances should unambigu-ously state that mausoleum and colum-barium usage is consistent with cemeteryusage. Zoning ordinances should notrequire special use or nonconforminguse permits for mausoleum constructionand other cemetery-related structures on acreage dedicated for cemetery operation.”12

Some zoning ordinances are also nowtaking into account the reduced impactof burying (or sprinkling) cremains. Forexample, Albemarle County, Virginia,

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has removed from its definition of ceme-tery “the sprinkling of ashes or their bur-ial in a biodegradable container onchurch grounds, or their placement in acolumbarium on church property.”

LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE

All cemeteries require administrationand financial resources in order to bekept in good repair. One problem facinga growing number of cemeteries as theyreach capacity is the loss of revenue thatcomes with new burials. For example,the town of Williston, Vermont, this year,had to allocate $21,000 for its fourmunicipal cemeteries, only one of whichstill has available plots. The combinationof increased upkeep costs and decliningrevenues (due to fewer plots being avail-able for purchase, and reduced revenuesfrom the endowment fund) made it nec-essary for the town to draw on its generalfunds to meet the growing shortfall.13


11 Most cemeteries do not actually sell the plattedland like a subdivision; rather, they sell the “rights” tobe interred there.

12 The Government and Legal Affairs Task Force ofthe International Cemetery and Funeral Association;<www.icfa.org>.

13 As reported by Mariana Lamaison Sears in “Ceme-teries Struggle for Solvency,” Burlington Free Press(May 16, 2006).

Hope Cemetery, in Barre, Vermontis home to scores of beautifullysculpted gravestones and memorials.It is not surprising perhaps, to findat sculptor Albert Ceppi’s gravesitea carving of him at work.

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Resources“Cemeteries In The CityPlan,” American Society

of Planning Officials, Planning AdvisoryService, Information Report No. 16, July1950.

Earl Finkler, “The Multiple Use ofCemeteries,” American Society of Plan-ning Officials, Planning Advisory Service,Report No. 285, November 1972.

Charles Reed, “Zoning for FuneralHomes and Cemeteries,” The ZoningReport for Planning and Zoning Officials,Vol. 2, No. 13, November 26, 1984.

percent of the sales price of a cemeteryplot be placed into a perpetual or long-term care trust fund, a level Fells believesmay be too low to ensure that futuremaintenance needs will be met.

Of course, there is nothing to preventa municipality that owns and operatescemeteries from setting up its own ceme-tery trust fund – and adequately fundingit – even if not required to do so by statelaw. In fact, this may be the bestapproach to lessen the risk of futureproblems.

SUMMING UP:

Cemeteries have too often been givenscant attention by planners and otherlocal officials, becoming a concern onlywhen a crisis erupts, such as the aban-donment of an existing cemetery. Yetcemeteries – like parks, schools, roads,and housing – are integral to the life of acommunity. Moreover, cemeteries canserve as more than just the resting placeof the dead; providing the living withareas for contemplation, seeking solace,and gaining insights into the past. ◆

Valerie Capels, AICP, isTown Administrator for theTown of Waitsfield, Vermont,and former Director of theDepartment of Planning and Community Developmentfor the City of Montpelier,Vermont. Capels has a long-time interest in cemeteries and their role in our communities. She can be contacted at:[email protected].

Wayne Senville is Editorof the Planning Commission-ers Journal. He is formerDirector of Local & RegionalPlanning Assistance in theVermont Department ofHousing & CommunityAffairs, and also served onthe Burlington Planning Commission for nineyears, including three as Chair.

According to Bob Fells, ExternalChief Operating Officer of the Interna-tional Cemetery and Funeral Associa-tion, one problem facing a number ofmunicipal cemeteries is that “they are run using a business model of a charity,” with plot prices being set tobreak even and too low to cover futuremaintenance needs. Fells argues that if amunicipality operates a cemetery, itshould use proper long-range financialplanning to ensure that down the roadthe municipality won’t face largeamounts of deferred maintenance,requiring taxpayer funding.

Fells notes that some cities and townsfacing budget problems in operatingtheir municipal cemeteries have soughtto sell them to private cemetery opera-tors. But it can be difficult to find a buyer,as there will only be interest if the ceme-tery can be run profitably after its pur-chase, an unlikely prospect if there islittle remaining capacity or if the ceme-tery is located in an area where there islow demand for interment.

A related issue that a number of com-munities have faced is abandonment of acemetery. In Montpelier, Vermont (just30 miles south of Williston), St. Augus-tine’s Church recently requested the Cityto take over ownership and long-termmaintenance of their cemetery, which isat capacity and has suffered from neglectin recent years. The Church claimed alack of financial resources to continuemaintaining the cemetery, acknowledg-ing that the “perpetual care fund” hasbeen depleted. The City will be decidingwhat to do later this year, after studyingthe fiscal and legal implications of takingover the cemetery.

Fells points out that state laws requireonly minimal financial capacity forcemetery maintenance. While all fiftystates have laws dealing with cemeterytrust funds, Fells adds that in most statesreligious, fraternal, and municipallyowned cemeteries are completely exemptfrom the trust fund requirements.16

In addition to this major “loophole,”trust fund laws typically require that ten

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16 For example, there are approximately 6,000 ceme-teries in New York State. About 1,900+ are businessesregulated by the State Cemetery Board, and subject totrust fund requirements (in New York, 10 percent ofthe sales price of a burial lot must be placed in a trustfor long-term maintenance). However, the remaining4,000+ cemeteries are municipal, religious, or familyowned, and exempt from the trust fund requirements.

Where Space is at a PremiumIn other parts of the world,

where available cemetery space can beeven more limited, the trend is to squeezeever more capacity into cemeteries.According to social psychologistBethamie Horowitz, in Israel the combi-nation of population pressure and scarceland has led the country “to adopt a pref-erence for burial in tiers, a policy knownas ‘saturated burial sites.’ ”14 The govern-ment will allot areas for burial only if saturated (i.e. tiered) burial methods areused. Israeli architects Tuvia Sagiv & UriPonger note that while the cost of con-struction of saturated burial sites is high-er than traditional sites, in the long runthe tiered approach will save more onland and cemetery infrastructure costs.15

Tiered cemeteries are not unknown in the U.S. For example, the IndiantownGap National Cemetery in Central Penn-sylvania provides tiered burials, wherethe first interment is made at a depth ofapproximately 7 feet, and the second atapproximately 5 feet in the samegravesite.

14 Bethamie Horowitz, “A Wandering People,Redefining Final Resting Place,” The Forward(Feb. 24, 2006).

15 Tuvia Sagiv & Uri Ponger, “Burial As a WayOf Life,” Architecture of Israel, Issue 36, onlineat: <www.aiq.co.il> (search using keyword “burial”).

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