The Archdiocese of Newark, owner of Holy Cross Cemetery, wants to double the size of its mausoleum. However, the religious group cannot do this without some approvals from the Zoning Board.
Attorneys from the borough and the archdiocese had some debate over what approvals it needs from the town and what falls under the jurisdiction of the State Cemeteries Act.
Unlike plans for a mini-mall or a set of new townhouses, expansions to cemetery mausoleums are not entirely controlled by the local government. In 1971, North Arlington wrote its own ordinances governing above-ground resting places for the deceased. However, a state supreme court decision in the late 1970s rendered most local ordinances concerned with cemeteries obsolete.
Zoning board attorney Charles Sarlo and the attorney representing the archdiocese, Donald Miceli, debated whether local zoning ordinances applied. Cemeteries are regulated by the State Cemetery Act. The act gives certain powers to the local zoning board "within reason."
The board continued to hear testimony from the archdiocese, but attorneys left the question of what variances the cemetery required unanswered. The cemetery will return on May 14 at 7:30 p.m. for testimony from the planner.
On April 24, the Catholic Cemeteries division of the Newark Archdiocese came to the mayor and council meeting to show its plans for the cemetery. The borough asked Catholic Cemeteries to repair cracked sidewalks around the cemetery. Also, the borough requested two proposed "pocket parks" outside the cemetery gates be enlarged.
"On the proposal, there were two benches and a ‘Charlie Brown’ tree. Let’s make it a functional park," said Councilman Al Granell.
Contrary to worries from the public, the new mausoleum will not increase traffic around the cemetery, according to a letter from traffic expert Jay Troutman, Jr. of McDonough & Rea traffic consultants sent to the borough. "Traffic activity at cemeteries is driven by the death rate, which has been decreasing over the past 15 years," wrote Troutman. "The proposed mausoleum expansion will not change existing activity at the cemetery, but will instead allow the cemetery to continue to operate into the future."
Local zoning ordinances cap the number of mausoleums in a cemetery to one, the number of crypts per mausoleum to 6200, the height to 40 feet and the square footage to 27,000 square feet.
The proposed building will be 52.6 feet high, 289 feet wide and 199 feet deep. The 72,539-square foot addition will continue northward from where the current mausoleum ends toward Astor Avenue. It would contain 6,322 crypts, not including crypts already contained in the original mausoleum.
The archdiocese will also remove 12 trees, including a 48-foot Locust, two 36-foot maples, a 36-foot cherry tree, a 36-foot dead tree and a 30-foot oak. The archdiocese will then replant 27 trees, including 17 cherry trees, eight elm trees and two evergreens.
Zoning Board President Nicholas Antonicello described talks between the borough and the archdiocese as positive. Andrew Schafer, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries, happily agreed to several requests from the board, the borough engineer and members of the public. Specifically, Catholic Cemeteries agreed to add a burm on the side of the cemetery facing Astor Place, 10 more trees, a bed of sage on the traffic island at the entrance and lighting on the walkways from a proposed parking lot to the new mausoleum.
The idea behind the design was to make the mausoleum look more like a church than the large granite box-like structure currently at the cemetery, according to architect Anthony Rissi. "We wanted to try to terminate the end of the building and we wanted to give it a more ‘Catholic’ look," he said.
Two 66-foot tall "spires" will face Astor Avenue. The 200-acre cemetery has 50 additional acres of developable land.
