Funeral director seeks crematorium in light-industrial building; commission raises odor, compatibility concerns and makes no determination

Blake Stencil, who identified himself as owner of a Waterford-based funeral business, asked the Village of Waukesha planning commission on June 11 for a concept determination to operate a crematorium at 22295 Arcadian Avenue. The commission heard technical details about emissions and safeguards but did not reach a formal decision.

Planner Sean told commissioners that crematoriums are not listed in the village zoning ordinance and therefore are not automatically permitted; the commission must decide whether the proposed use is sufficiently similar to permitted industrial trades and “not detrimental to the district or to the adjoining residential areas by reason of appearance, noise, dust, smoke or odor.”

Stencil said he purchased the building and needs a separate location because his existing funeral facilities lack the space and clearances required to install the cremation equipment. “We’re looking to get our own crematorium,” he said, adding that the proposed unit would be in the building’s rear garage area and not set up as a retail space for families.

Jake Pardon of Cremation Systems, the prospective equipment supplier, described a “hot-hearth retort” with an afterburner and continuous-stack opacity monitoring. He said state and federal regulators consider the equipment a “small source emitter” so long as potential particulate emissions remain below regulatory thresholds. Pardon noted that each cremation is logged and that the machine’s opacity sensor and operational safeguards stop the main burner and add air if visible smoke is detected. “There’s absolutely no odor that is emitted from the retort at all,” Pardon said, and he described post-process ash handling as an indoor, nonvented operation that returns ashes to families.

Commissioners and attendees pressed the petitioner on several practical points: how long bodies would be stored on-site, what odors might escape from a walk-in cooler, how large the cooler would be, traffic and loading operations from the building’s garage doors, and whether the building—described by members as a tin shed—would need upgrades or screening. A resident and commissioners repeatedly raised the nearby restaurant and bar as a concern, saying any transfer of odor or visible emissions could affect that business. One attendee said from personal experience that cooler rooms at county morgues can be detectable down hallways.

Staff and some commissioners noted that other municipalities sometimes permit crematoria as part of funeral homes or as conditional uses in industrial districts with site-plan conditions such as screening and building improvements. The petitioner said turnaround times for cremations typically run five to seven business days and that unclaimed decedents at a medical examiner’s office can remain longer, but he stressed that his business would not intentionally hold remains on-site for extended periods.

After extended discussion and an informal poll that indicated a majority of commissioners felt the use could be compatible with industrial zoning if substantial site upgrades and conditions were required, the commission declined to make a formal determination because no motion was offered. Planner Sean explained that without a motion there is no official finding and the petitioner may return with additional, formal site-plan materials.

The commission’s next procedural step will be for the petitioner to submit a site-plan and plan-of-operation application if he chooses; such an application would allow the commission to place conditions (screening, architectural or operational requirements) on approval or to deny a plan that fails to meet standards. No vote was taken on the zoning determination at the June 11 meeting.