Planning commission recommends special-use permit for Oakwood Cemetery expansion

The DeKalb City Planning and Zoning Commission on May 5 recommended that the City Council approve a special-use permit to allow DeKalb Township to expand Oakwood Cemetery by purchasing about 0.8 acre of land from First Congregational Church at 611–615 North First Street.

The commission’s recommendation follows a public hearing and presentations from township representatives who said the expansion would create a memorial park with an above‑ground columbarium, a scattering garden in a later phase and limited parking. The permit is required because cemeteries are a special‑use in the applicable zoning district, staff said.

London McCardell, speaking on behalf of DeKalb Township, said the proposal is funded largely by a church member and described the plan as a phased expansion. “This is the shows the the design first phase of the, proposed project, purchasing approximately 0.8, of an of an acre, to expand,” McCardell said. McCardell added that the phase‑one area will be open park space and that no in‑ground burial plots are proposed within that new parcel.

Mary Hess, a township representative who attended the hearing, clarified the cemetery will not add full burial plots in the expansion. “There will be no burial plots. What we're gonna be doing is putting an, above ground columbarium,” Hess said, adding the township expects to start with “1 columbarium with probably 48 niches.” Hess described a later phase that would include a scattering garden and said state law allows cremains to be scattered under a process that memorializes individuals and records the events in state records.

City staff reviewed the site plan and zoning. Planning staff noted that the public‑notice packet incorrectly listed the parcel as SFR‑2 (single‑family) but that the property is zoned MFR‑1 (multifamily) and that a cemetery is still a special use in that district. Staff recommended approval subject to acceptance of the two phase plans labeled by the township, and told the commission they had received one written comment in support from Bradford Shive of 8 Miller Court.

Speakers at the hearing raised questions about trees, parking and floodplain limits on the northern edge of the parcel. McCardell and Hess said a small northern portion of the acquired parcel lies in a mapped flood hazard area and that no structures would be placed there; McCardell said no work is planned in that floodplain area and that compensatory storage and other floodplain requirements therefore are not anticipated to apply to proposed facilities. The proposal includes about eight parking spaces that will come from a portion of the church parking lot and a cross‑access easement to allow circulation between the church lot and the new park area.

Commissioner Becker moved to recommend approval “based on the submitted petition, testimony presented, and findings of fact” for the site plan dated February 2025 and labeled Exhibit A; Commissioner Wright seconded. The motion was put to a roll call and the commission recorded the recommendation to forward approval to the City Council.

The commission’s action is a recommendation to the City Council; final approval and any conditions will be decided by the City Council at a future meeting.