Zoners deny variance request for church cemetery

The zoning board in a Pennsylvania town denied the request for a variance at a church.

Hawaiian cemetery loses rezoning bid

The state Land Use Commission denied a request to rezone 56-plus acres in a hot dispute between a cemetery owner and its neighbors. Hawaiian Memorial spent two years trying to get through a plan for expansion, only to be thwarted by the state agency.

Cemetery expansion opposed in Hawaii

The Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery is seeking a rezoning of property from conservation to urban, so that it can expand, but nearby residents fear what the zoning change will do to their area. From this article:

The cemetery's owners want to expand, developing 35.6 acres of conservation
land to provide burial space, mausoleums and cremation sites. But to do that,
they must obtain the approval of the state Land Use Commission to rezone 56.5
acres of conservation land to urban use, because cemeteries are not allowed on
conservation land.

Bucks County, Pa., zoning/cemetery dispute

When officials in Bucks County, Pa., reached agreement to establish a veterans cemetery in the vicinity of Washington Crossing National Park, area municipalities agreed to a Federal Cemetery Overlay ordinance, which essentially allows for higher density in order to preserve more open space for the cemetery. According to this report, some Newtown Township think the town prematurely closed the appeal process, once the main opposition reached agreement in a land deal that secured the parcels needed for the vet cemetery.

Georgia remains to be moved for landfill expansion

Officials in Clayton County say the graves had been inaccessible and not visited for years, but now that they have announced the move, residents are outraged at the plan.

Massachusetts cemetery in zoning battle of a different kind

In this case, the world-famous Mount Auburn Cemetery is fighting plans for a concrete plant, saying that it would disrupt "the serene and peaceful atmosphere that is critical to the cemetery’s operations." Mount Auburn claims the plant is a non-conforming use, while plant owners say it is the re-operation of a previously allowed use.

Cemeteries and zoning in Bibb County, Georgia

One of the things we've discovered in our early research into cemeteries and land use is that there seem to be almost as many zoning regulations as there are government jurisdictions. Even in southern New Jersey, where I live, they run the gamut from none to historic to specifics on the amount of paved surface.
But in one county, Bibb County in Georgia, they must not think they need cemeteries at all -- because county commissioners there have pretty much put the kabosh on any new cemeteries there, and seem to have particularly targeted a green cemetery. Among the regulations are significant setbacks from water sources and the requirement that bodies be buried in a “leak-proof casket or vault.”
While perhaps well-meaning, the commissioners are woefully shortsighted. How do they think their Founding Fathers were buried? What do they think of current Jewish and Muslim practices? If they are worried about contamination of water, what do they think of the risks of formaldehyde? Or arsenic, which was part of the embalming practice from the Civil War days through the early 20th century?
The vote already is drawing criticism, including an editorial in the Macon Telegraph, which notes the commissioners' ignorance of burial practices and shortsightedness.