About 100 residents turn out to oppose ‘green cemetary’ plan
By Linda S. Morris , The Telegraph
An often noisy crowd was not happy at Monday’s zoning meeting when an application for a proposed natural or ‘green’ cemetery at 4600 Davis Road in Bibb County was deferred once again, this time when the vote was split 2-2.
The item was discussed during the regular meeting of the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission.
Since Commissioner Jacqueline Hightower was absent and the vote was split, the item is automatically deferred to the next meeting April 28.
The conditional-use permit is for a natural, environmentally conscious cemetery, according to the applicant, Summerland Group Inc. The company is owned and managed by Elizabeth Collins, CEO, and James Wood Jr., president.
The cemetery would be located on 10 acres in Bibb County near the Twiggs County line. A natural burial basically means the deceased would not be embalmed and would be buried in a simple shroud or biodegradable casket.
The application was deferred from the March 10 meeting when commissioners asked their staff to gather more information about the proposed cemetery.
Since that meeting, changes were made to the shape of the original 25-acre cemetery to allow more hilltop area and would exclude an old home site from the area to be developed as a cemetery. Also 10-acres of the highest point would be limited for full burials which would have an average of 75 burials per acre for a maximum of 750, reduced from original plans for 7,500 burials over the entire 25-acre parcel. Also the latest plan proposes greater buffers between the cemetery and the property lines than the earlier plan.
Nearly 100 people attended Monday’s meeting in opposition to the cemetery and several of them said they were concerned about how it would affect their property values and that it would contaminate their well water.
Steve Edwards of Decatur, who owns property near the proposed site, said “there would be severe impact” on property values if the cemetery is approved. However, when Commissioner Jimmy Patton later asked for proof of decreased value, Edwards said he couldn’t provide any.
Clifford Collins, who lives on Sylvester Circle, said he was “strongly against” the cemetery especially for health reasons.
Jerry Fincher of Dry Branch said he was worried that dogs would dig up bodies and that the proposed use would hurt the neighborhood. He presented a petition with more than 800 names in protest of the cemetery.
Elizabeth Collins with Summerland said there would not be any burials within 100 feet of any wells and that some of the protesters lived about two miles away from the site. Also, she said she was not aware of any burials being dug up from any natural cemeteries worldwide.
This type of green burial is performed legally at several cemeteries in the area now, she said.
Elizabeth Hanson of Macon said she supported the proposed cemetery and some of her relatives had been buried this way in several states and in a military cemetery.
Tony Hester with the Macon-Bibb County Health Department, said that while septic tanks must be 50 feet from wells and septic fields must be 100 feet from wells, there are no distance requirements regarding natural or other cemeteries from wells.
When Commissioner Damon King asked Hester if he would be comfortable living near the proposed cemetery, Hester said, “based on what I know I would be.”
Commissioners Patton and Sara Gerwig-Moore voted to approve the permit while commissions King and Arthur Hubbard voted against it.
Following the vote, it took several minutes for the noisy crowd to clear the chambers.