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Crematory opponents defeat proposal

By LORRI HELFAND
Published October 5, 2006

LARGO - After almost seven hours of heated debate, city commissioners early Wednesday denied a proposal to build one of Pinellas County's largest crematories at Serenity Gardens Memorial Park.

Citing concerns about the environment and the welfare of residents, commissioners voted 5-1 against the plan, with Commissioner Gay Gentry in dissent.

Vice Mayor Harriet Crozier, who retired as office manager for Serenity Gardens last month, abstained from the vote.

The commission's decision came about 1:15 a.m., drawing applause from exhausted but elated neighbors. More than 200 residents had packed City Hall, and about 30 had begged commissioners to reject the proposal.

"My job is to preserve the quality of life and protect the residents," Commissioner Gigi Arntzen told a half-dozen experts hired by Serenity Gardens. "They are going to be here long after you've collected your checks and gone home."

Mayor Pat Gerard said the 13,177-square-foot project was out of scale with neighboring homes.

"Of all the locations on that property, that's probably the worst one you could have picked, right next to the road and right next to single-family homes," Gerard said .

Commissioners also said they were concerned about the unknown effects of crematory emissions, especially mercury.

The crematory, which would serve nine funeral homes in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, was proposed for the southeastern end of the cemetery property on Wilcox Road, about 120 feet from nearby homes.

But Gentry said she couldn't put the property rights of residents above those of Serenity Gardens. She also said she wouldn't make a decision based on emotion and suggested that the subject might be highly charged. "The elephant in the room is that we're talking about death and we're talking about the fact that we are mortal."

Ed Armstrong, an attorney representing Serenity Gardens, said his client hadn't decided whether to appeal the commission's decision.

Opponents of the project said they feared decreasing home values and increasing traffic, noise and pollution.

"It's my paradise. With a crematory, paradise will be gone," said resident Robin Grondin, breaking into tears.

Resident Dennis Vellardita, who lives across from the site, said it was obvious the project didn't belong in his neighborhood.

"It's the size of an Eckerd's and it's going to have three ovens," said Vellardita, referring to the proposed crematory, which would have three furnaces.

And former Commissioner Marty Shelby, who was on the commission in 2000 when the city code was changed to allow a crematory on the site, said he never anticipated a project of this magnitude there. He urged commissioners to deny the project.

A few Largo commissioners grilled experts hired by Serenity Gardens. Commissioner Andy Guyette, a technical director for Honeywell, led the charge, asking them to prove their claims that property values and air quality would not be harmed by the crematory.

"Statistics and data can be formatted any way to say what you want it to say," Guyette said.

Guyette also asked for information about the impact of mercury on nearby residents.

Crematory emissions typically include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates and mercury released during the burning of silver amalgam dental fillings.

Scientist Byron Nelson, hired by Serenity Gardens, said he thought the facility would have little impact, but said that mercury can cause damage to the brain and central nervous system.

Peter Hessling, air quality division director for Pinellas County, said studies about mercury and crematories are not conclusive.

He has said an emission inventory calculation in 2002 found that the county's crematories yielded about 17 pounds of mercury that year. There are currently 10 crematories in the county, with a total of 17 cremation furnaces.

Residents and some officials were caught off-guard when attorney Darryl Richards, who represented Serenity Gardens, cross-examined a few residents, asking them to verify their credentials to talk about the impact of the project.

Martin Engelmann, a real estate appraisal expert hired by Serenity Gardens, told commissioners there would be no impact on property values. Engelmann studied homes near similar crematories in Palm Harbor, Dunedin and Brandon, and homes farther away from those crematories.

Commissioners Guyette and Mary Gray Black asked if Engelmann knew whether the crematories he studied had three furnaces, such as the one proposed. Engelmann said he did not.

A real estate specialist for Pinellas County Schools, which owns an adjacent 30-acre site, also weighed in on the issue. He asked commissioners to consider adding a condition that would require Serenity Gardens to obtain a study to show dispersal patterns of particulates, mercury, carbon monoxide and other emissions.

Serenity Gardens, owned by SCI Funeral Services of Florida, is a subsidiary of Houston's Service Corporation International. The parent company has a network of more than 1,400 funeral homes and cemeteries in North America.

City staff recommended approval of the proposed crematory, but on Sept. 7, the city's planning board recommended denial.

The city initially said the decision about the crematory was up to city staffers. But City Manager Steve Stanton said the plan should come before the City Commission because city code allows for a public hearing in cases in which a staff review alone wouldn't protect the public interest.

[Last modified October 4, 2006, 22:45:05]