Last week I discussed making enhancements to existing cemetery grounds. But what if you’re looking to further develop or expand an existing cemetery? There are a few things to consider:

Development

It’s important to provide a range of products and services in order to meet market expectations. Keep a mix of cemetery uses in your plan, including ground burials, lawn crypts, mausoleums, columbaria, and cremation gardens. Mausoleums or columbaria are especially useful to utilize in areas where ground burials may be difficult to place. Keep in mind constraints such as slope, wetland, high ground water, shallow bedrock for ground burials, roads, and structures may inhibit certain choices.

Consider potential regulations when developing land. Cemetery development is like any other land development project. You must be mindful of regulations at each level of government.

• municipal land use ordinances:
  • stormwater management for additional impervious surface coverage
  • new access to a local road
  • tree removal 
• county regulations
  • new access to the county road
  • assessment on historic markers when the property is on a county road 
• state regulations
  • environmental regulations
  • cemetery laws
  • stormwater management for impervious surfaces
  • updated floodplain regulations
  • riparian zone classifications – vegetation disturbances 
• federal law
  • threatened and endangered species 

Expansion

If there is little land left on the property or the operation is restricted to a small area, consider acquiring properties with a long-term development strategy: 

• get first right of refusal to adjacent properties
• purchase "developed" property for maintenance use
• swap land with the local municipality
• purchase land where regulations are less stringent

Since the need for holding spaces decreases as lots are used, convert designated grave soil holding spaces to burial lots. Also consider paying for a dumpster to haul away soil on a regular basis, or barter with an outside contractor who may need till on a nearby project.

Another idea is to convert roads into grave lots or a mausoleum or columbarium. This provides a balanced mixed-use area and also has the least long-term operation cost.

One important consideration to make when planning and designing cemetery space is to be mindful of whether the cemetery is religious or non-religious, and/or for veterans. Think about what might be unique to that specific type of cemetery—specific requirements, additional financial resources, etc. Understand the needs of the client—just as you would any other type of land development project.

At Dewberry, we offer a full range of services—environmental, landscape architecture, land development, and surveying, to name a few—to help clients meet their goals.