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Residents of Wilcox Road off Indian Rocks Road in Largo have made it crystal clear they don't want a human crematory built at Serenity Gardens cemetery across the street from their homes.
A recent community meeting Serenity Gardens conducted to explain the project got so out of hand, with people raising their voices and interrupting, that it had to be adjourned. Upset residents felt their questions about traffic, lights, noise and unhealthy emissions from the proposed crematory were not answered.
Another community meeting, this one run by city officials, will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Anona United Methodist Church, 13233 Indian Rocks Road. In the parlance of government, it is called a "community compatibility meeting," but residents continue to argue that a commercial crematory is not compatible with a residential neighborhood, ever, period.
Someone in government, sometime in the past, apparently thought differently, because the cemetery has a land use designation of "institutional" and that designation allows crematories. Most folks who hear "institutional" might think of schools, churches, libraries and such, and assume that allowed uses would be nonprofit. But in Largo, a commercial operation like an assisted living facility or a crematory that burns human remains also qualifies.
Because a crematory is a permitted use on the Serenity Gardens property, the cemetery's plan to build will not go to any city board or the City Commission. The city staff makes all the decisions about how the project must be built.
The staff has already told Serenity Gardens that the crematory, which would be a one-story, 13,177-square-foot building with three furnaces, is permitted on the property. Serenity Gardens has submitted a preliminary site plan that shows the crematory and its parking lot will be built on the southeast corner of the cemetery across the street from the tidy Mia Circle neighborhood.
The next step is this week's neighborhood meeting, at which the staff is supposed to gather input from the community. The staff then tells the applicant what, if anything, should be modified, final site plans are drawn up, and a development order is issued.
That process vests a lot of responsibility in a few people on the city staff. Applications for crematories don't pop up every day. Has the Largo staff done enough to educate itself about the unique conditions that a commercial crematory would create in the neighborhood?
Some Largo officials have said residents shouldn't be concerned since crematories have no emissions. That is not what air quality specialists say about crematories. While crematories are considered only minor air pollution sources, they can emit sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and metals, including mercury. The amount of emissions depends on the type of equipment, its age, how the bodies are prepared for cremation, and the skill and attentiveness of the crematory operator.
If the Largo staff didn't know that, it needs to do more homework, because it owes the residents full and informed answers to their questions. These answers should come from independent research, not from the applicant. The city's community development staff, accustomed to and skilled at reviewing projects for impacts like traffic, light and noise, in this case also must be able to tell residents what emissions come from a crematory, in what amounts, and why those emissions are or are not a hazard to Serenity Gardens' neighbors.
In turn, the residents owe city officials the time to get the information and answer the questions and the courtesy to deliver that information without being shouted down.
Residents have worked hard to educate themselves. They surely know, then, that crematories operate throughout Pinellas virtually invisibly and generate few, if any, complaints. People live near them, work near them and drive past them without even being aware that they are crematories.
Crematories aren't like industrial plants with stacks belching smoke. They are usually small, one-story buildings that resemble an office building, and their chimneys are short and inconspicuous. Only small amounts of wispy smoke come from the chimneys when they are operating properly.
All crematories must have a permit from the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which inspects them before they open and annually thereafter. Department inspectors make sure that the operator is properly trained and licensed; that the crematory does not burn any medical waste; that it has proper refrigeration equipment for bodies; that only one body is cremated at a time; that the ashes are properly disposed of; that pollution control equipment complies with state standards, and that records are properly completed and stored. Air quality issues are the responsibility of county environmental officials, according to the state.
Cremation is an increasingly popular choice instead of more expensive burials. That means Pinellas will need more crematories in the years ahead, and residents likely will be affected wherever a new one is built. With proper siting of the facilities as far as possible from neighbors, and with careful, informed review by government, the impacts can be reduced.