Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Item No: 7A <br />Meeting Date: April 27, 2015 <br />Type of Business: Public Hearing <br />Administrator Review: _______ <br /> <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br /> To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br /> From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate <br />Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing – Introduction and First Reading of Ordinance <br />899, Amending Chapters 1102 and 1106 of the Mounds View <br />Zoning Code to Allow Columbaria on Properties owned by <br />Religious Institutions <br /> <br /> <br />A Mounds View church member recently contacted the City to inquire if a columbarium would <br />be allowed on the church property. Their church was considering adding a columbarium and <br />the church member said many churches are now considering installing a columbarium for their <br />patrons. They are considering one or two structures that would be about 10 feet long and 6 <br />feet tall. Many funeral homes report that more than 50% of deaths now result in cremation <br />rather than a burial, so it is understandable that more places are needed to store urns. <br />Mounds View does not currently have any cemeteries, nor does the City Code address <br />cemeteries or columbaria. <br /> <br />A columbarium is a place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns (i.e. <br />urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains). Today's columbaria can be either free standing <br />units, or part of a mausoleum or another building. Some manufacturers produce columbaria <br />that are built entirely off-site and brought to the cemetery by a large truck. Many modern <br />crematoria have columbaria. In other cases, columbaria are built into church structures. <br /> <br />The Planning Commission and City Council have both discussed this and felt that a columbarium <br />could be considered an accessory building, with a few specific requirements added and a <br />definition. The Planning Commission approved Resolution 1022-15, recommending approval of a <br />code amendment for columbaria to be an allowed use on properties used as religious institutions. <br />After the Council Worksession discussion, staff removed the language stating that the columbaria <br />must not be constructed of brick if less than 200 square feet in size, and replaced it with “the <br />exterior of the columbaria must be solid stone, stainless steel or aluminum.” <br /> <br />Recommendation <br />Review Ordinance 899 with the proposed City Code amendment to allow columbaria on <br />church properties. <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Heidi Heller, Planning Associate <br /> <br />Attachments: <br />1. Ordinance 899