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Residents ask city to convene parties after uncovering graves near Blackberry Reserve development
Summary
Residents urged the Opelika City Council to help arrange a meeting with developers and county preservation officials after cleanup work uncovered graves beyond the one-acre cemetery plat at the Blackberry Reserve subdivision.
Tiffany Hillier, a resident of 1305 Morris Avenue, told the Opelika City Council on June 30 that cleanup work at what she called Hodge Cemetery uncovered graves beyond the one-acre area shown on century-old plats and raised concerns the developer’s planned lots could encroach on burials.
“Since those cleanup efforts, we did unearth what appears to be many, many more graves,” Hillier said, urging a joint site visit by the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission, the developer and residents.
The issue, Hillier said, stems from differences between century-old survey descriptions and later burials. She told council members she had documentation indicating the Alabama Historical Commission requires a 100-foot buffer around cemeteries more than 75 years old.
Matt Morris, a resident at 2709 Rocky Brook Lane and a member of the local preservation effort, told the council the cemetery contains graves dating to the 1850s and that the most recent recorded burial was in 1986. “The concern is that…graves are outside the one-acre set aside by the survey,” Morris said.
Council members and staff said the city does not currently have unilateral authority to clear disputes on private property and proposed bringing the interested parties together to determine the locations of graves and next steps. A council representative said the next step is to arrange a meeting with the developer’s representative, residents, and the county preservation commission to discuss possible ways to determine whether burials exist outside the platted area and how to protect them.
Residents asked whether ground-penetrating radar or other respectful methods would be used to determine burial locations; the council said that would be discussed at the meeting of stakeholders.
Speakers at the meeting emphasized they were not seeking to stop the Blackberry Reserve development but to avoid unintentional disturbance of burials if lots are sold and built adjacent to the cemetery.
The council did not take formal action on the cemetery at the June 30 meeting; staff said they would help convene the parties for further discussion.
