Highview Memorial Gardens in Fallston has received the go-ahead from a Harford County zoning hearing examiner to add a funeral home with a crematory.
In an opinion released May 14, hearing examiner Robert Kahoe concluded a special zoning exception should be granted for the proposed 4,300-square-foot funeral home and crematory.
Also approved May 14 by Kahoe is a proposal to operate a private school for special education students in a building in Riverside Business Park in Belcamp.
Both decisions will be final on June 15, unless an appeal is taken to the Harford County Council as the board of appeals, which is considered unlikely.
Funeral home, crematory
Highview Memorial Gardens, a 40-acre cemetery on Route 152 about 11 miles northwest of Bel Air, already has a graveyard, a pet cemetery and a chapel mausoleum.
Highview was established in 1976 by the Hess family on a portion of its farm, The property is zoned agricultural, and cemeteries and mortuaries are permitted uses in the agricultural zone.
As noted in Kahoe's opinion, the cemetery owners previously received approval to operate a crematory on the site.
Their latest request was for a special zoning exception to construct the proposed funeral home with an accessory use of a crematory in the same building.
Al Starkey, who testified as an expert witness in a March hearing before Kahoe, said there is a trend to having funeral homes at cemeteries, although this would be the first such combination in Harford County. Starkey's company, Ingram Construction, is building the mausoleum complex at Highview that will eventually consist of five free-standing buildings, according to the hearing summary.
Starkey testified crematories don't give off emissions and generate little odor. The crematory will be 300 feet from the northern property line and 655 feet from Route 152. Under questioning, he said the pet cemetery is separate from the proposed funeral home and crematory.
The proposed funeral home building was described as appearing residential in style and will be a quarter mile from the nearest neighboring home, according to the hearing testimony. Highview President James Hess testified he has not gotten any opposition to the building.
The county Department of Planning and Zoning did not oppose the building, but staff recommended several conditions that Hess said he would honor.
Among the conditions are that the building to be constructed is in "substantial compliance" with an architectural rendering submitted with the application, 10 parking spaces proposed over the maximum permitted must have pervious paving and permits must be obtained for any signs associated with the funeral home.
In approving the special exception for the funeral home and crematory, Kahoe's opinion noted: "This 40-acre parcel has been operated as a cemetery for many years. It appears to be well-suited for its neighborhood and, no doubt, represents needed community resource."
Hess said Wednesday they had previously built a crematory for pets at another location on the property. He said the county required another review and approval for the latest facility since it will be in a different location.
School approval
Kahoe also granted a special exception to Lambdin Development Company and Special Education Services of Maryland to use part of a 9,750-square-foot commercial building, in the 1200 block of Brass Mill Road, for a school serving up to 45 special education students.
The building, owned by Lambdin Development, is in a B2 commercial zone within Riverside Business Park. Education services are an allowable use subject to conditions under a special exception.
Josh Strzegowski, a regional supervisor for Special Education Services of Maryland, testified at a March hearing before Kahoe that the company plans to relocate its school in Perryman, where he is principal, to the Belcamp building.
The transfer will involve 28 to 30 students at first, with up to 45 being served eventually at what will be known as High Roads School. The students will be from Harford, Cecil and Kent counties, he said. The company has 60 programs in 11 states serving some 30,000 students, he said.
Strzegowski said the school will need about 5,400 square feet for four classrooms and four offices. All recreation activities will be offered at the local Boys & Girls Club, so no changes are expected to the exterior of the building or the site. Up to 14 people will be employed at the site, he said, and transportation will be provided by Harford County Public Schools.
The county Department of Planning and Zoning recommended approval with conditions, including that enrollment be limited to 45 students.
There was no testimony in opposition, and Kahoe concluded: "...the proposed use will have no greater impact at the identified location than it would at any other location within the zone. Indeed, this 45 student school should have no perceptible impact of any nature on the surrounding community."