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Council moves to set public hearing to allow funeral homes in neighborhood mixed‑use zoning; crematoriums to remain separate for now
Summary
Staff proposed a UDO text amendment to add funeral homes by‑right in the Neighborhood Mixed‑Use (NMX) district to correct a 2022 omission. Council asked questions about crematoriums and potential accessory status; staff recommended screening standards and advised keeping crematoriums as a distinct, more restricted use. Council agreed to move the amendment to public hearing.
Assistant Planning Director Aaron Joseph told the Garner Town Council on May 26 that staff is recommending a zoning text amendment to allow funeral homes as a permitted use in the Neighborhood Mixed‑Use (NMX) district. Joseph said the change would correct an apparent omission when the town's Unified Development Ordinance was updated in 2022 and would add use standards for funeral homes such as screening for outdoor storage and enclosed display of headstones.
Joseph explained that crematoriums were separated during the prior UDO update and are currently treated as a higher‑intensity use, permitted in industrial and certain rural/agricultural districts or by special use permit. "Crematoriums are more associated with institutional or industrial uses," Joseph said, noting that existing funeral homes with on‑site crematoria would remain legal nonconforming uses but that new crematoriums would be regulated under current rules.
Council member Matthews asked whether a funeral home should be allowed to include a crematorium on the same premises. "If you got a funeral home, the crematorium should be part of that property," he said, asking whether the functions should remain linked. Joseph and other staff replied that the proposal before council was narrowly focused on adding funeral homes to NMX and that the question of whether crematoriums should be an accessory use would require further study and might be considered during the public hearing or as a separate text amendment.
Council members expressed interest in inviting a local operator with an on‑site crematorium to explain operations and environmental controls before any decision to change crematorium rules. Staff advised that the more immediate priority is to move forward with the text amendment to correct the omission for funeral homes because an existing operator needs the change to pursue a site modification. Council indicated consent to schedule a public hearing on the proposed text amendment; no vote to adopt the amendment was taken at the work session.
Next steps: staff will place the proposed text amendment on a public‑hearing calendar, solicit public comment, and provide additional information (including possible testimony from existing funeral operators) for the council's review before any final action.
