Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/02/1996

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Z.B. March 1996 -- Page 3 Special Use Permit -- Neighbors Say Cemetery Will Change Neighborhood 's Character Jack Stumpf and Associates In'c. v. Jefferson Parish Council, 663 So.2d 871 (Louisiana) 1995 Jack Stumpf & Associates Inc. owned a 13-acre tract in Jefferson Parish, La. Heavenly Gardens Memorial Cemetery and Mausoleum Inc. agreed to buy the land if Stumpf got a special use permit to build a cemetery and mausoleum. Under the parish's zoning ordinance, a cemetery was a permitted use in the district as long as the Parish Council granted a special use permit. A special use permit would be granted if it would "not cause any diminution or depreciation of property Values of any surrounding property or [would] not alter the essen- tial character of the locality." Stumpf applied to the Planning Department, which found the project met all the zoning ordinance's technical requirements. The Planning Department recommended that the Parish Planning Advisory Board grant the permit. Both the board and the Parish Council held hearings. At the hearings, sev- eral residents of two neighboring subdivisions said they opposed the cemetery because they did not wish to be constantly reminded of death "each time they went out to get the paper or had a backyard barbecue." They also thought the project would separate the subdivisions from. any thoroughfare and force them to live in isolation behind the cemetery. They presented a petition opposing the project signed by 550 residents of the subdivisions. Stumpf presented' a petition signed by 800 proponents of the project, but most of those people'did not live in immediate proximity to the property. The board recommended denial of the permit and the council denied it. One council member reasoned the cemetery would alter the area's essential character in a way a large number of directly affected people found objectionable. Stumpf appealed to court, but the court upheld the council's decision. Stumpf appealed again. DECISION: Affirmed. The permit was properly denied. The parish's zoning ordinance provided a special use permit would be granted as long as it did not alter the locality's essential character. Although Stumpf's petition in favor of the project was signed by more people, most were not directly affected. The area's essential character would be altered in a manner objectionable to those who would be most imme- diately impacted. They had valid concerns about being constantly reminded of death and isolated behind the cemetery. Terryto w~z Properties v. Parish of Jefferso~l, 416 So. 2d 323 (1982). Jurisdiction -- Can Landowner Bypass Zoning Hearing Board to Get Use Permits? Copechal v. Tow~tship of Bristol, 668 A.2d I222 (Pemlsylvalffa) t995 Copechal owned nine properties in a commercial zone of the township of Bristol, Pa. According to CopechaI, for more than 50 years all her properties had garages and were used continuously for truck storage, repair, and maintenance.