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Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission president asks Opelika council to advance cemetery‑buffer ordinance
Summary
Tiffany Hillier, president of the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission, told the council the local buffer ordinance is stalled and urged the city to require the city attorney to provide any state‑law citation that would make a local buffer redundant, or to allow the council to sponsor the ordinance.
Tiffany Hillier, president of the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission, told the Opelika City Council on July 7 that a municipal ordinance to establish physical buffer zones around rural cemeteries has been stalled for more than a year.
"A little over 1 year later, we are at a complete standstill. We have been told that the city attorney is currently blocking the ordinance," Hillier said during the public‑comment period. She said the commission contacted the Alabama Historical Commission and was told by that agency that no state law, regulation or mandatory buffer exists in Alabama.
Hillier asked the council to require the city attorney to provide "the exact title, chapter and section number of the code of Alabama" that he had claimed would create a mandatory development buffer in writing, and said that if no such law exists she asked the council to move the proposed ordinance forward for introduction and sponsorship.
Why it matters: Hillier said existing state criminal statutes punish the desecration of graves after the fact but do not establish setbacks, grading restrictions or mandatory buffers that would prevent construction‑related damage to headstones and unmarked graves. The commission argued a local buffer would provide preventative protection and urged council action.
Council response: The transcript records Hillier's request and her presentation of supporting materials; the city attorney or other staff did not provide a direct reply during the recorded public comments. Hillier asked two discrete actions: (1) provide the alleged state law citation in writing, and (2) if none exists, place the local buffer ordinance on a future meeting agenda for council sponsorship.
Next steps: No formal action was recorded in the meeting on the ordinance itself; Hillier's request stands as a public petition for the city to resolve an apparent legal contradiction and to consider local protections for cemeteries.
