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Resident urges protection for unmarked cemetery as North Point seeks smaller buffers
Summary
At the May 26 Westfield Common Council meeting, resident Devin Wilkins opposed a proposed North Point PUD amendment that would shrink tree and preservation buffers near a small cemetery, citing Indiana burial-ground protections and asking the city to preserve mounding and drainage. City attorneys said the DNR permit process governs any disturbance within 100 feet.
Devin Wilkins, a Westfield resident whose family farm borders the North Point development, told the Common Council on May 26 that he opposes a developer proposal to reduce buffers around a small, largely unmarked cemetery adjacent to his property.
"My parents bought the farm we live on, which is 100 acres," Wilkins said during public comment. He described oral history that unmarked burials lie on the cemetery outskirts and said the proposal to shrink the tree buffer along 202nd Street and adjacent to the cemetery would require excavation that risks disturbing burial ground. "We just want some respect for our ground and the cemetery," he said.
City staff introduced the North Point planned-unit-development amendment as an introduction to reduce the buffer along 202nd Street from 40 feet to 30 feet, replace a mound with new planting tied to a landscape plan, and cut the tree-preservation buffer next to the cemetery from 40 feet to 20 feet to make room for development. Kevin Todd, standing in for Community Development, said the change would allow space for a large building on the roughly 13.5-acre site.
Concerns about possible unmarked graves prompted the council to seek clarity on the legal process. "State statute provides that no development may occur within 100 feet of a burial ground without going through a permit process that the Department of Natural Resources has," said Russell Brown, an attorney with the Clark Quinn law firm. "There is a process in place, so regardless of the outcome of this amendment there would be a permit process that must be followed." Brown said the DNR can request information, order further study such as geomorphological or sonar surveys, and require a plan for handling any remains discovered.
City staff and legal counsel told the council they have encountered similar situations in past infrastructure projects and pledged to treat the matter "with kid gloves." Staff described options for coordinating the DNR review with Plan Commission timing so the project is not indefinitely delayed and said they would provide updates to the council. The city also offered to conduct a site walk with Wilkins and noted the petitioner indicated a willingness to follow the DNR process.
The North Point amendment is scheduled for a Plan Commission public hearing on June 1 before it returns to the council for further consideration. Council members asked staff for more frequent updates and clear information from the DNR and the petitioner before any final vote.
Next procedural steps: the Plan Commission hearing on June 1, DNR review as required by statute if excavation is proposed within 100 feet of burial ground, and additional council consideration after staff and the petitioner provide DNR findings and any revised plans.
