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Neighbors urge masonry wall, buffers and limits for proposed Leander memorial garden
Summary
Residents near the proposed Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home/Memorial Garden told council they did not receive direct notice, believe construction has begun, and asked for mitigation including an eight-foot masonry wall, dense evergreen screening, increased setbacks, dark-sky lighting, and on-site parking.
Multiple neighbors addressed the council during the Feb. 10 public-comment period to oppose elements of a proposed memorial garden and funeral home at South Baghdad and Vista Ridge (case SD24-0194).
Angel Maiero, whose home borders the site, said many neighbors (including older or ill residents) were not notified and that construction appears to have started. Maiero said the primary concern is privacy and visual impact: "Families should not have to look from the kitchen windows and back patios directly into a commercial memorial garden," and asked the council to require strong mitigation measures, most importantly "a solid masonry wall, at least 8 feet minimum height, installed along every residential boundary." Maiero also requested dense evergreen buffering, larger setbacks for memorial features, dark-sky compliant lighting only, limited hours of operation, no amplified sound, and all parking and traffic kept on-site.
Rafael Calvo, an HOA member, told council the facility could reduce adjacent home values because of the stigma associated with death-related sites and that an existing funeral home nearby already serves the market. "Adding another one seems unnecessary and could concentrate death-related traffic to one quarter, and it's going to strain residential roads with no benefit to the community," he said, and urged planners to revisit the site plan and consider tangible buffers or rezoning if appropriate.
Staff did not announce a final vote on the site plan at this meeting; council received comments and will consider them as part of any subsequent public hearings or hearings on permit applications.
