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Dennis commission approves Oak Ridge Cemetery expansion, niche units and equipment shed
Summary
The Dennis Historic District Commission approved a town-led Oak Ridge Cemetery expansion at 815 Route 134 that includes about 2,100 new grave spaces (roughly 4,000 remains capacity), two niche units for cremated remains, a small equipment/storage building and a gated stone entrance; commissioners required no additional changes and noted a 20-foot undisturbed buffer along Old Chatham Road.
The Dennis Historic District Commission voted to accept the town’s Oak Ridge Cemetery application on the recommendation of the Department of Public Works, approving plans that include new burial sections, two vertical niche units for cremated remains, a small equipment and staff building and a stone gate at the Old Chatham Road entrance.
"There are about 2,100 graves being proposed, and if each holds two caskets or two cremated remains, that's about 4,000 — that is about a 25‑year plan," said Dave Chrisman of the BSC Group, who presented the master plan for the site and described a new veteran section, a new gate intended to limit access outside funeral events, new plantings and a 20‑foot undisturbed buffer along Old Chatham Road. Tom O'Connor of the Dennis DPW introduced the town project and said cemetery staff would remain involved in operations and staging.
Commissioners focused their questions on the vertical niche units and the new entry, and confirmed that the site had already been reviewed by planning, conservation and the board of health. After brief questions about fencing and the gate configuration, a commissioner moved to accept the application "as submitted" and the commission voted in favor.
Under the commission’s usual procedure, the approved Certificate of Appropriateness allows the applicant to request necessary building permits from the town; commissioners noted that no changes to the approved plans may be made without written permission of the commission. The project was presented as a town-managed DPW project; the applicant will follow up with the building-permit process and record updates in the portal as required.
The approval closes a long-planned expansion of Oak Ridge Cemetery intended to meet interment needs over the coming decades. The commission recorded no additional conditions beyond the standard requirement that revised plans be submitted if future design changes are sought.
