Woodbine shelves plans for crematory
Area residents were not properly notified about cemetery’s application
By carolyn o’connell
Staff Writer

Residents may be breathing easier now that plans for a crematory seem to have come to an end.

Gregg Kunkowski, president of the Woodbine Cemetery Association, said, "For now we will scrap the plan for a crematory because it has become too costly."

To date, according to Kunkowski, Woodbine has spent more than $50,000 in its attempts to receive planning board approval.

The plan had to be withdrawn because the cemetery owners failed to properly notify all the residents about the application.

The Planning Board approved a motion to drop the case Oct. 10.

For the proprietors of Woodbine, this means that 10 months of testimony and applications would be dismissed, and if they wanted to proceed, they would need to start from the beginning.

"Everything the board has heard up to now needs to be forgotten," said board member Gary Wolfe.

According to Wolfe, the failure to properly notify residents was discovered when several of the surrounding property owners complained that they were not notified.

Jack Serpico, the attorney representing Woodbine, received information from the tax assessor’s office that provided him with addresses located within 200 feet of only one of the lots under the ownership of Woodbine Cemetery.

Kunkowski explained that there are two lots listed, one used as the actual cemetery and the second where the administrative offices are located.

According to Wolfe, the lots are contiguous, and residents whose homes are located within 200 feet of either lot need to be notified.

Although Kunkowski did not want to elaborate, he did say that there are other options.

The 23 acres of the Woodbine Cemetery, according to Kunkowski, have approximately 7 acres left to accommodate 50 to 75 years of grave sales.

"Right now cremations are showing an extremely small profit margin, but the future will change all that," he said.

Kunkowski noted that cremation is selected in about 30 percent of today’s services.

That percentage is expected to increase significantly in the future.

"Demographics show that the baby-boomer generation will increase the rate of cremations to 70 percent," he said.

With this application off the table, borough officials are going to work to address the state laws that limit a municipality’s ability to determine the appropriateness of such building.

Mayor Gordon Gemma noted that local planning boards cannot deny use of a mausoleum or crematory at a cemetery; they can only review the proposed site plan.

"At the very least, notice should be given to the local municipalities, and input should be allowed from local residents," he said.

Gemma also said crematories, valid or not, can have adverse effects on communities, such as environmental and use issues.

He explained that cremation is a retail service intended for the funeral services, not only cemeteries. A retail service of any kind is not always applicable depending on the zoning.

"This act should not give carte blanche use to cemeteries," he said.

Confident of a future demand, Kunkowski said, "A crematory will happen at some point; demographics will demand it in all cemeteries."