Downtown Waynesville will get a crematorium if city council members vote Thursday to affirm a unanimous recommendation Tuesday evening by Planning and Zoning Commission members.
Randy Walters, the owner of Waynesville Memorial Chapel, told commission members Tuesday that he’s tried to “be a good citizen” with his funeral home business for many years and didn’t believe cremating bodies would change that.
“This is very much accepted in the American community now,” Walters said. “It is all run on natural gas, so it is a very clean burning facility.”
After City Administrator Bruce Harrill cautioned that having a crematorium in a residential neighborhood is an “emotional issue” for some people, Walters said he understands that issue.
“I hope we have a track record of being a good neighbor,” Walters said.
Walters assured commission members that the smell of wood stoves and burning leaves is far stronger than anything that will come out of his facility and said crematoria are strictly regulated to prevent odors of any type.
Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Erv Morris asked how many cremations will happen. Walters said he isn’t sure, but it will be much less than similar facilities in Springfield or larger cities.
“It may be five in one week and then none in two months; we can’t predict that,” Walters said. “We have a good relationship with our competitors and if we can provide a service to them, we’ll try.”
Cindy Walters, who also serves as a funeral director with her husband, said she understands concerns about odors but said existing operations of the funeral home aren’t causing problems.
“I think everybody is aware we have an embalming room already in the facility, and I can promise you that the odor there with the chemicals is much more than this,” she said.
Randy Yoakum and several neighbors asked whether having a crematorium nearby would affect their property values. Local real estate agent Judy Miller said owners of homes in one area subdivision have already found they’re not able to sell their property for as much as they had hoped because the only entrance and exit is through a cemetery. Even if the crematorium doesn’t generate odors, Miller said some people won’t want to buy property nearby.
“If I am to sell anything around your area, I have to disclose that there is a crematorium there,” Miller said.
However, Miller said the Walters already have “by far the nicest, best-maintained place around” and said she didn’t want to wreck the project.
“The Walters do things right, they do things in style, and I appreciate what they do,” Miller said. “I would like to see a little more data on what happens in the area of a crematorium with property values.”
Councilwoman Luge Hardman said she’s checked a crematorium in Springfield and neighbors say there are no problems.
“What they say is they didn’t even know it was there,” Hardman said.
Another neighbor of the Waynesville funeral home, Niles Stevenson, agreed.
“I live directly behind the funeral home and I want to say I support them; I think we should support our businesses and not send all our revenues to Springfield,” Stevenson said.
Councilman Michael France said he watched a recent program on the Discovery Channel and was surprised how much he learned about modern cremation practices.
“I would tell you, from my perspective, I absolutely support the Walters family on this project,” France said.
Councilman Alan Clark agreed, even though he lives nearby.
“I’m within spitting distance of the facility Randy wants to put in; I’ve seen some facilities that were the complete opposite of the system Randy is talking about,” Clark said. “I cannot see how this is going to have any effect on the property values compared to the dilapidated condition of some of the other properties that are already down there … Once this is down there nobody will even know it is down there.”
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