Pleasant View planning commission recommends adding ‘cemetery’ as conditional use in RE-20 with 5-acre minimum

The Pleasant View Planning Commission on Sept. 4 recommended that the city add a definition of “cemetery” to the municipal code and list cemeteries as a conditional use in the RE-20 residential estate zone, with a minimum lot size of five acres.

The change, presented by city staff member Tammy during the commission’s public hearing on the item, is intended to allow a cemetery planned by the city and the Ben Lomond Cemetery District to proceed on city-owned property currently zoned RE-20. “The city has been working kind of in partnership with the cemetery maintenance district in planning a cemetery location in Pleasant View,” Tammy said, describing the project as early in the design and subdivision stages.

Commissioners and members of the public raised concerns that adding “cemetery” as a permitted conditional use in RE-20 could enable private, small-scale cemeteries to locate anywhere RE-20 is allowed. Commissioner discussion focused on limiting unintended outcomes by either making cemeteries a community/public use or by applying minimum-lot-size and ownership qualifiers. “If we put cemetery as a use ... technically it could go in any place that is RE-20,” one commissioner said during the hearing, urging caution. Another commissioner proposed a five-acre minimum so small, one- or two-lot parcels could not be repurposed as pocket cemeteries.

After discussion, a commissioner moved that the commission add cemetery to the municipal definition (as described under community use) for the RE-20 zone and require a minimum acreage of five acres. The commission voted in favor; the motion passed unanimously. The commission then moved to recommend adding cemetery to the RE-20 conditional-use list and again approved the recommendation unanimously.

Commissioners and staff emphasized that the action on Sept. 4 is a recommendation to the city council, not final approval of any specific cemetery site or site plan. Tammy said site subdivision, road access and site design remain to be completed before any cemetery could open, and that the city-owned parcel under discussion consists of two parcels totaling roughly a little over six acres (one parcel “just over 4 acres” and a lower parcel “2 [acres]”), based on remarks in the hearing.

Members of the public and commission members also discussed the city’s existing decant/decanting facility on or near the property — a stormwater/refuse treatment pond feature required under stormwater regulations — and whether the decant facility would remain in place or be relocated. Staff said the decant facility is “not going anywhere” and that its operation and the cemetery planning would be coordinated in site design.

The commission asked staff to refine the proposed zone-text language before it goes to the city council, including consideration of whether to treat cemeteries specifically as a “community use,” whether to allow only publicly or commercially owned cemeteries, and whether minimum-lot standards from other zones (such as a five-acre minimum already present for cemeteries in A2) should be applied in RE-20. The commission unanimously approved the narrower definition and the conditional-use recommendation so the city council could take up the item at a future meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to accept minutes of Jan. 9, 2025: moved and seconded; approved (vote summarized as “aye,” individual roll-call counts not specified in transcript). - Motion to add a cemetery definition (as described under community use) to the municipal code for the RE-20 zone with a five-acre minimum: moved and seconded; approved (unanimous; individual vote counts not specified). - Motion to recommend adding cemetery as a conditional use in RE-20 (zone-text amendment): moved and seconded; approved (unanimous; individual vote counts not specified).

Why it matters

The amendment clears a regulatory hurdle for the city and the Ben Lomond Cemetery District to develop a cemetery on city-owned acreage that is not currently zoned for cemetery use. Commissioners framed the recommendation to balance two objectives: enable the city-planned cemetery project to proceed and avoid opening RE-20 parcels across the city to small private cemeteries without additional size or ownership safeguards.

What’s next

The planning commission’s recommendation will go to the Pleasant View City Council for final action. Staff was asked to return recommended language that clarifies whether cemeteries in RE-20 should be designated explicitly as public/community cemeteries or else subject to minimum-lot-size and ownership limits. Separate site-level approvals — subdivision, site plan, access and any necessary relocation or accommodation of the decant facility — will be required before any cemetery could be developed.