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MAY 1995 <br /> <br />AMERICAN <br />PLANNING <br />ASSOCIATION <br /> <br />Buildings come and g~, often disappearing within a generation or two after they are built. <br />Sometimes they no lo~ger serve their original commercial purpose or become obsolete for <br />modern industrial purposes. Old factories become artists' lofts. And some poorly constructed <br />residential units simplE deteriorate. <br /> Cemeteries, on the dther hand, are expected to house the dead for eternity. It offends many of <br />our cultural senstbdtum when eternity proves to be shorter than we had expected. <br /> I. <br /> But cemeteries, especially in urban areas, tend to get in the way of things. Suburban <br />subdivisions sometime{ spring up around them. They end up in the path of planned highways. <br />Often located on high ~round in order to avoid drainage problems, they sometimes evolve into <br />valuabl~ real estate. In ~ural areas, firms involved in various forms of resource extraction <br /> <br />i6i~eti~'es encroach or[ the <br />~i~i~ i'and-use cont~icts <br />p!an'n'ers do best. giving such <br /> <br />CZb'ning' for terni <br /> <br />of the deceased. Cemeteries, in short, involve a number of <br /> .'rs and zoning officials can help to resolve by doing what <br /> little forethought. <br /> <br /> Cemeteries as <br /> Community Assets <br /> The first question planning officials <br /> should ask about cemeteries is why <br /> they matter. Understanding and <br /> articulating this point is the first step <br /> in developing a public consensus <br /> behind zoning measures both to <br /> provide adequate space for cemeteries <br /> in developing areas and for <br /> preserving historic cemeteries <br /> threatened by growth. Cemeteries <br /> serve a number of purposes, however, <br /> and it is not difficult to delineate <br /> these in a well-written ordinance. <br /> In the long term, the most <br /> obvious purpose is historical. It is <br /> easier to see this purpose in older <br /> communities, where early cemeteries <br /> provide a visual record of the social <br /> structure, spiritual concerns, family <br /> histories, and physical circumstances <br /> of previous generations. Old <br /> tombstones tell us much about <br /> people's average age, causes of death, <br /> and social relationships and how <br /> those changed over time as the <br /> community evolved. They often are, <br /> in effect, outdoor museums of local <br /> history whose loss or destruction <br /> diminishes our knowledge of the <br /> past. They also offer us a glimpse of <br /> the link between historical attitudes <br /> toward death and the afterlife and <br /> their expression in cemetery <br />/a sculptureandart. <br /> <br /> <br />