BERLIN – Town officials approved an ordinance that will allow crematoriums as possible uses on industrially zoned property.
Despite opposition from a nearby property owner, the Berlin Town Council last week voted 4-0 to approve an amendment that permits crematoriums as a conditional use in the industrial zoning district. The change was proposed by Kirk Burbage of Burbage Funeral Home, as he hopes to one day establish a crematorium on property near Route 113.
“It would be discreet,” he said. “It would be in good taste. It would be nothing that would be a shame to this community.”
Town staff told the council last week that the Berlin Planning Commission had reviewed the text change that would permit crematoriums as a conditional use and had given it a favorable recommendation. As a conditional use, a crematorium would still require approval from the town’s board of zoning appeals.
When the council opened a public hearing on the proposed change, attorney Jon P. Bulkeley, representing the owner of more than 200 acres across the street from the potential crematorium site, expressed various concerns.
“Do you want a crematorium at the gateway to the coolest small town?” he said.
Bulkeley said there was a crematorium in Millsboro.
“It’s an atrocity,” he said. “There’s smoke pouring day and night. I don’t think you really want that at 818 and 113.”
He added that the Environmental Protection Agency didn’t regulate crematoriums and said he was worried about potential emissions. He also talked about tax downsides.
“How big can the assessed value of this crematorium really be?” he said.
Bulkeley said a crematorium on Burbage’s property would deter residential development on his client’s property. He argued that working crematoriums into the code as a conditional use was a “procedural back door” that essentially made the use a permissible one. He urged the council to delay voting on the change.
“The town needs to take some time to look through these issues,” he said.
Attorney Bradford Kirby, representing the same property owner, agreed and said crematoriums weren’t in the code because they weren’t intended to be in town.
Attorney Joel Todd, representing Burbage, said his client ran the longest established family funeral home in the entire state. He said the issue in front of the council wasn’t whether a crematorium should be built on Burbage’s land near Route 113, but rather if it should be allowed as a conditional use in the industrial zoning district. Todd said Burbage was a longstanding member of the community who cared about the town.
“Mr. Burbage doesn’t want to do anything that’s going to adversely affect the conditions anywhere in the Town of Berlin,” he said.
According to Todd, most of Burbage’s clients these days wanted to cremate their family members, which was why Burbage wanted to be able to offer cremation.
“On average Burbage Funeral Home has 350-400 funerals a year,” Todd said. “At this point 70% of the funeral services the Burbage Funeral Home provides are cremations. There certainly is a demand for this.”
As far as the negative descriptions of the Millsboro crematorium, Todd said they were falsehoods.
“Don’t you think if that was the truth he’d have a picture here to show you tonight?” Todd said.
He stressed that Burbage wouldn’t pursue a project that would hurt the community, as he was known for the care he took of the funeral home property as well as Merry Sherwood.
“I’m frankly offended that some outsiders, some outside attorneys, would come in here and accuse me of doing something sinister by following this legal pathway and accuse my client of trying to wreck the Town of Berlin,” Todd said.
Burbage said the allegations from the attorneys opposed to the ordinance were ludicrous. He said he was just trying to use land that had been in his family since the 1940s to serve a community need.
Councilwoman Shaneka Nichols noted that like Burbage’s property, the property across the street was zoned industrial and would need to be rezoned in order to be developed residentially.
Todd said zoning was zoning.
“I don’t think that property owner should be able to hold my client hostage while he tries to make up his mind what he’s going to do with that property,” Todd said.
Dave Gaskill, the town attorney, said that with the existing zoning Burbage could develop the property with uses such as a seafood processing plant or saw mill.
“I just want to put that into perspective,” Gaskill said. “The only thing a conditional use would do would be to allow a property owner to apply to the board of zoning appeals to approve that conditional use. The board of zoning appeals would look for detrimental impacts on surrounding properties.”
Councilman Jay Knerr, a former board of appeals member, said the board scrutinized each request carefully.
“Not every decision was a cookie cutter decision,” he said.
The council voted 4-0 to approve the ordinance as proposed.
