Nary a seat was to be found Monday evening as the Elkin Board of Commissioners held what Mayor Sam Bishop said was the best attended meeting he had seen in many years.
Driving attendance was a rezoning request to change the zoning of 735 North Bridge Street to Highway Business (HB) to allow for the demolition of the existing home and construction of a funeral home and crematorium.
After a discussion, the board opted to enact a six-month moratorium on funeral home and crematorium construction. Elkin zoning rules do not differentiate between the two and both are allowed under HB zoning.
Town Planner Sarah Harris explained, “Currently the parcel is split zone, the front part that is on Bridge Street is Highway Business and the south end is Medium Density Residential. The property owner is requesting the residential portion of the parcel to be rezoned HB to allow for construction of a funeral home and crematorium.”
Applicant Hasten Wall said that split zoned lots are no longer supported by the town. He said the future land use plan of Elkin declared North Bridge Street to be a highway business corridor and in that area a large percentage of existing buildings are zoned HB, meaning the request would be in alignment with property around it.
Dave and Diane Brendle both spoke against the rezoning plan, the home in question sits on the homestead of Dave’s grandmother. “The Brendle Homeplace should not be destroyed,” he said. “We’re concerned about the possibility of air quality, smoke, noise, and increased traffic in a quiet residential neighborhood.”
“This was always meant to be a residential neighborhood,” Mrs. Brendle said, “a quiet peaceful haven. That is what we love about living here and if it gets rezoned to Highway Business, it will be that forever and the character of our community would be changed forever.”
She added that it would not only be a funeral home or crematorium allowed if the lot were rezoned to HB. “You know that wide variety of businesses that are included in there... and I think you agree many of them do not belong in a neighborhood.”
Christine Taylor said as cremation rates across the nation are going up, there is a need. “It is very necessary and would be an excellent addition to Elkin, but the location itself is what’s going to be the issue.”
Growing up, she spent time at grandma’s house which was around the corner from a crematorium and shared her experience. “My grandmother would everyday used to like to go and sweep off her patio. There’s nothing like sweeping it off and not knowing who it was out there in the morning she was sweeping up.”
“An industrial smoke producer is not very appetizing to me at all,” Lorraine Marquez told the board. She comes in from Ronda to do business but said that she may opt to take that business elsewhere, and warned others could follow suit. “What happens when one business starts chipping away at another business?”
“When the ashes are being swept off the sidewalk and off of cars: people just aren’t going to come around and business will start to decline, people will lose jobs, businesses will close,” and the town will then lose whatever tax base gains may be seen by a funeral home at this location.
Lawyer Ben Cochran gave the board an escape hatch from the discussion. “North Carolina has decided in statues that a crematorium is different than a funeral home. Elkin does not currently differentiate.”
He said some towns, Yadkinville included, have changed their own regulations, “They have decided that crematoriums are most appropriately zoned as light industrial.”
Several speakers addressed the potential health dangers of a crematorium on the site including Kasey Stilley who said a crematorium would put off gasses and particulate matter that could “get into the lungs and exacerbate asthma and heart disease as well as increase risks of stillborn and birth defects.”
She said those are serious health considerations that need to be accounted for especially given there are vulnerable populations near the site with a nursing home and a school found within a half mile.
Mark Curtis agreed and said the amount of carbon dioxide put off by a crematorium is higher than what folks may expect but also noted a nearby creek which runs into the Elkin River. Two new parking lots, as the developer is seeking, would create additional run off including dripping fuel or oil, which could then be carried to the creek.
“Two hundred feet from a dwelling, 150 feet from a property line, I have measured this does not meet the requirements to be at least 150 feet from property edges. There is not enough room, it’s just pure math,” he said.
Steve Mackey took a direct approach. “I’m here for very selfish reasons — my property value. I’ve talked to Realtors, people in town, no one is for this. If you think this is a really good idea, then volunteer land next to where you live and see what happens to your values.”
Jen Brown saw it differently than those in opposition and spoke in favor of the rezoning. She said her family’s property is adjacent to the lot in question in two places.
“We are totally satisfied with his plan and if we can support it then everyone should because we’re the ones who are closest to this property and we have no issues,” she said.
Mayor Bishop called for a motion on the rezoning’s consistency but was met by the sounds of silence.
Commissioner Jeff Edison made a motion to enact a six-month moratorium on new construction. He felt tabling the request and enacting a temporary ban on the construction of new funeral homes and crematoriums would afford the town time to research and consider the matter more fully.
Town Manager Brent Cornelison told the board, “If you pass this (moratorium), that will stop this project.”
The board could not consider Edison’s motion at that time. “In order to have a discussion, we have to have a motion,” Bishop said. Again, the crickets resurfaced in the crowded town hall.
“This is the first time, but the rezoning has died for lack of a motion,” Bishop said and the board then approved the six-month moratorium. The mayor confirmed that following the moratorium, there would be another chance for public hearing on the matter.
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