Crematorium Plans Up In Smoke
A zoning variance application for a new crematorium that raised eyebrows in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood has been defeated. The proposed facility, located on the corner of West 40th Street and Lorain Avenue, had been disallowed under current zoning regulations mandating a 300-ft. separation between a crematorium and residences.
Arguments supporting the variance were weak. The new facility, added to the existing Bodnar-Mahoney Funeral Home property, would generate little new economic development for the area with the addition of one to two jobs. The funeral home’s investment in the new facility was approximated at $300,000.
Concerned neighbors circulated petitions opposing the variance. They received approximately 200 signatures objecting to potential mercury contamination and the proposal’s incongruity with the area’s historic, high-density residential character.
Cremation is an option for many not wanting the expense of traditional burial. Statistics indicate cremation has grown in popularity since the 1970s and now accounts for up to 60% of new funeral business. The new facility was an effort by Bodnar-Mahoney to capture revenue from cremations by doing them in-house versus the current off-site contractors.
A number of epidemiological and environmental studies have raised questions about the effects of airborne pollutants from crematoria. An Italian study shows “a wide variation in the content of the pollutants investigated: metals, total particulate matter, organic micropollutants such as dioxin (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs).” A 2003 UK study found significant statistical evidence for increased prenatal difficulties with the risk of stillbirth 4% higher and the risk of the life threatening brain abnormality anencephalus 5% higher among babies whose mothers lived near to crematoria.
In 2006, the British Columbia Interior Health Authority recommended against a proposal to place a crematorium in a residential neighborhood in Kamloops.
Back in Cleveland, the local neighborhood development corporation, Ohio City Near West, voiced initial support for the zoning variance, although a later vote by the OCNW’s board recommended a neutral position. Ward 13 Councilman Joe Santiago wrote a letter to the Cleveland’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) in support of the crematorium, while neighboring Ward 14 Councilman Joe Cimperman wrote a letter in opposition, stating that much of his ward was downwind of the proposed facility.
The company’s funeral director Patrick Mahoney Sr. said there will be no further appeal of the zoning decision. He has indicated he will sell the 82-year old business or move it to a Western suburb.
__________________________________________________
Ohio City Bodnar-Mahoney property (A) with surrounding residential tracts [Google]
Additional References
Leave a Reply