What To Do When You Have a Cemetery on Your Project?
Whether a municipality or private developer, the realization that you may have an old cemetery on your property tends to create more questions than answers. At CTL Engineering, we have the answers you are seeking. Our staff has been involved in the reidentification and relocation of multiple cemeteries over the years. From analysis of historic maps, tax records and genealogical records to the remote sensing and identification of the boundaries and, if necessary, the excavation and reinterment. We have done it all.
Many times, small, old family cemetery plots aren’t maintained or may not even have any visible headstones. These kinds of features often come to the attention of the owner/developer from neighbors, local historical/genealogical societies, zoning boards or through the State Historic Preservation Office. This can hold up funding and zoning and delay projects.
What are your responsibilities?
Many varied state laws protect cemeteries, not to mention county and local laws and regulations.
- Ohio and North Carolina have laws protecting known burial sites from desecration and vandalism.
- Indiana has laws limiting development within 100 ft of any cemetery or burial ground.
- Virginia and West Virginia have laws protecting burial sites from damage and require a court order to move any graves.
- South Carolina has laws protecting burial sites from damage or desecration and requires the permission of the local municipality for removal and reburial.
Solutions
It is always best to first identify where the cemetery is located, who might be buried there and how many burials it might contain. Sometimes this is possible with intensive historical and genealogical research. Other times, it is necessary to conduct geophysical surveys such as ground penetrating radar or electrical resistivity. Services that CTL offers.
Once we have established the location and limits of the cemetery, decisions can be made about the development and the best way to move your project forward. We can create a cemetery preservation plan that outlines how the cemetery will be preserved and protected. CTL has engineers who can work cooperatively with the Cultural Resources staff to redesign your project to avoid impacts to the graveyard. If necessary for the success of the project, we can develop an excavation and reinterment plan and testify as an expert witness for a court order.
While obtaining a development property with an abandoned cemetery is never anyone’s goal, there are ways to mitigate for this unforeseen circumstance and rescue a previously forgotten and neglected cemetery, making it a focal point of the development and getting the zoning approvals necessary to move your project forward.
Need assistance? Contact Joel Brown at jbrown@ctleng.com
