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Tingley, Connie 5
From: Hollibaugh, Mike P
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 1 :52 PM
To: Tingley, Connie S; Holmes, Christine B
Subject: FW: docket No. 308090017 DP/ADLS
Fyi. Might be worth sharing this with the Board.
Thanks
_ Mike
from: Don & Judy Birt [mailto:djbirt@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 26,20087:36 AM
To: Hollibaugh, Mike P
Subject: docket No. 308090017 DP/ADLS
Dear Mr. Hollibaugh,
I, as most residents of Woodhaven, are extremely disappointed and uncomfortable in the zoning decision to accept that a crematory
is compatible with residential property use and proceed with putting the crematory on the proposed location, particularly with the
stipulation that cremation is supposed to be limited on Mr. Nelson's word, to not subcontract -- with rights to appeal this in the
future. No one addressed what would happen if he deCided that he did not want to abide by this and sold out to another operator?
Would the new operator have to answer to Carmel as well? Or does the restriction only apply to Mr. Nelson? Could Mr. Nelson
"seli out" on paper to another operator and then buy back his business and then have no restrictions? What provisions will Carmel
set up to enforce monitoring of corpse volume? The zoning board said they did not want this to become a 24 hour operation, but
then did not have the foresight to thoroughly think this through. Since public comment was closed, we were not allowed to address
this. .
In essence, the residents have been left unprotected. Mr. Nelson clearly objected to staying within the realm of cremating only the
bodies in his own business and limiting his sign - and he will make further appeals and find other ways around this as anyone
wanting to start and build a crematory business would. He does not currently have a crematory.
This is all very disturbing to the neighborhood residents as we now face driving in and out of the neighborhood looking at a
mortuary/crematory sign and especially to our family as'we also must deal with the atrocity of the chimney stack facing our
back yard since, it is to be placed on the back side of the mortuary. We have lost several large trees in the back yard over the past
5 years so this property is quite visible in late fall, winter, and early spring. This property is the first thing viewed from our front door
entrance which faces our large great room windows. The entire back of the house is windows.
In your future planning meetings, would you please consider making Mr. Nelson flip his site plan so that the building ison the far
south side of the property with the chimney on the non-residential side so that we have at least a little more distance from the
constant visual reminder of what is going on in our static view of the chimney and it's emission described as "clear
haze" burning? Also, if Mr. Nelson plans to replace the overgrown shrubs at the edge of our adjacent properties, could you please
require an astringent plan with large full plants to buffer between the.properties from the start ( Le. not that will take 10 years to fill.
in)? Furthermore, we ask that you please stand firm on allowing Mr. Nelson or any other business owner at that location to have
any type of sign variance than whatis now permitted. The board told him that if his intent was really to just do his own cremations,
then he should not need a larger sign to advertise or need to put cremation services wording on the sign- it was then that he
withdrew the sign variance appeal ( for now) so he could still put the cremation wording on the sign. Finally, could you please
further investigate from an unbiased source how much noise the crematory furnace will emit to determine if it falls within Carmel's
noise ordinance? (Reassurance was given at the meeting by the furnace salesman, not a crematory owner that actually has this
furnace near a residential property.)
Please give us some consideration in our request to not want to think about death and view death every single time we look out our
great room, sunroom, bedroom, and breakfast nook windows or sit on our patio or drive in/out of the subdivision entrance.
We have lost more by the outcome. of this decision than the board will, by far, ever realize.
Sincerely,
11/26/2008
Page 2 of2
Judy Birt
4607 Wood haven Drive
/
11/26/2008
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Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Carmel, Indiana
Docket Numbers 08100005 SU and 08100006 V
.'.
We object to this Special Use application for permission to build a funeral home
crematory at 11411 N. Michigan Road.
Our objections fall within 2 main areas:
Inappropriate business for this location
Environmental concerns
Inappropriate business for this location
The property at 11411 N. Michigan Road is a strip of land, averaging approximately 166
foot wide, sandwiched between properties zoned S-1 Residential and B-3 Business.
The south property line of this parcel is the northern limit of the US 421 - Michigan
Road Overlay Zone.
Since, as we understand it, a Funeral Home/Mortuary/Crematory is specifically
"Prohibited" on all other Clay Township properties, which have frontage on Michigan
Road, why should one be allowed as a "Special Use" in the middle of this area?
The northern boundary of the US 421 - Michigan Road Overlay Zone is set as the north
property line of Parcel #17-13-06-00-00-034 (Altum's Garden Center), which is the
south property line of Parcel #17-13-06-00-00-035 (11411 N. Michigan Road). This
makes sense if you consider that when the Overlay zone was created, 11411 N.
Michigan Road was zoned for 8-1, Residential.
We feel that since the zoning for 11411 N. Michigan Road was changed to 8-5
Business in 2004, the Overlay Zone boundary should have been extended to include
this parcel, because it is now the only commercial property along Michigan Road, in
Clay Township, that is not in the Overlay Zone.
This would once again bring the northern boundary of the overlay zone to the edge of
the residential zoning district and include all of the commercial property on the east side
of Michigan Road and fulfill the purpose and intent of the Overlay zone to "protect the
public health safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare by providing for
consistent and coordinated treatment of the properties bordering u.s. Highway 421;
(also known as Michigan road) in Clay Township, Hamilton County, Indiana" and
"promote the steady flow of traffic'~ (23C. 00.01 )
Differences that impact the Residential neighborhood are front and side yard areas,
screening, and lighting standards.
Environmental Concerns
Since 2004, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized
that mercury exposure/toxicity is a public health risk with potential to cause permanent
brain and nervous system damage and other adverse effects. Few studies on the
safety of mercury emission from U.S. crematoria exist and the validitylreliability of those
studies from a scientific standpoint is questionable.
The (EPA) states: Dental amalgam also contributes to mercury emissions through the
cremation of bodies containing dental amalgam. A mercury flow worksheet developed
for EPA Region 5 estimated that in the United States in 2005 almost 3,000 kilograms
(6,613 Ibs.) of mercury were released to the environment from crematoria. There
remains a lack of good empirical data on the magnitude of mercury emissions from
crematoria. (www.epa.gov/mercury/consumerlhtm)
Crematoria are the 3rd largest source of air emissions of Mercury in the United States.
The main source of the Mercury is amalgam dental fillings.
The forecast is for an increase in Mercury emissions from crematoria for the next
several decades due to the deaths of baby boomers.
Elevated levels of Mercury have been found in soil samples taken within 328 feet of
crematoria. The remaining vaporous Mercury that does not settle on the soil is added to
the general atmosphere and carried by the wind to nearby areas.
The stated purpose of the Michigan Road Overlay Zone is to "protect the public health,
safety and comfort, convenience and general welfare". For the Planning and Zoning
Board to allow a funeral home having a crematorium, which emits Mercury onto our
property, does not seem to fulfill the previously stated purpose and will devalue our
homes/property and unnecessarily expose our families to adverse health risks.
We are not aware of any other crematoria in Carmel at this time and we see no reason
to subject the residents of Carmel to the environmental hazards associated with one.
There are crematoria close by that can be used.
Conclusion
. Even without applying the Overlay Zones standards to this parcel, the Board can
fulfill the intent of the plan by denying this application.
. We request this application be denied as an inappropriate use in this area.
. Approval of this application will cause the surrounding residential area property
values to decrease and "public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general
welfare" would be adversely affected.
';1 ..
TO: 1) Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Carmel, Indiana
2) Plan Commission of the City of Carmel, Indiana
RE: DocketNo. #08090017 DPJADlS
Docket Numbers 08100005 SU and 08100006 V
DATE: 11/9/08
FROM: Residents of Wood haven Subdivision
We request denial of the Special Use application for permission to build a funeral home with a
crematory at 11411 N. Michigan Road.
Our objections include:
1) Inappropriate business for this location
2) Environmental concerns such as unnecessary health risks of exposure to
mercury emission/air pOllution
3) Specific plan details - issues with proper greenbelt distances, lighting, noise,
to bordering properties
4) Traffic congestion/delays
5) Home/property devaluation
Address
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TO: 1) Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Carmel, Indiana
2) Plan Commission of the City of Carmel, Indiana
RE: Docket No. #08090017 DP/ADLS
Docket Numbers 08100005 SU and 08100006 V
DATE: 11/9/08
FROM: Residents of Timber Ridge Subdivision
We request denial of the Special Use application for permission to build a funeral home with a
crematory at 11411 N. Michigan Road.
Our objections include:
1) Inappropriate business for this location
2) Environmental concerns such as unnecessary health risks of exposure to
mercury emission/air pollution
3) Specific plan details - issues with proper greenbelt distances, lighting, noise,
to bordering praperties
4) Traffic congestion/delays
5) Home/property devaluation
Address
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Page I of2
Holmes, Christine 8
From: Jon Dobosiewicz Uond@NF-LAWCOM]
Sent: Friday, October 10,20081'37 PM
To: Holmes, Christine B
Cc: Conn, Angelina V; Tingley, Connie S
Subject: RE: Nelson Funeral Home
Christine,
Please accept this e-mail as the official request to withdraw the number of parking spaces Variance request filed
earlier today.
Thank you for working with us to address this matter.
Sincerely,
Jon
.Jon C. Dobosiewicz
Land Use Professional
Nelson & Fnmkenberger,PC
3105 East 98th Street, Suite 170
Indianapolis, IN 46280
317-844-0106 Vuice
317-428-8393 Cell
317-846-8782 Fax
jon@nf"Law.com
From: Holmes( Christine B [mailto:cholmes@carmel.in.gov]
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 1:31 PM
To: Jon Dobosiewicz
Cc: Conn[ Angelina V
Subject: RE: Nelson Funeral Home
Jon,
With the inclusion of the clergy office, I believe the designated public .floor area is correct, and that adequate
parking based on that floor area would be provided with 128 parking spaces. The petition has not been docketed
yet, so you would. not need to officially withdraw it. ['II make a note in the file that the parking variance is no longer
necessa"ry.
Thanks,
Christine
Christine Barton-Holmes, LEED AP
Planning Administrator
Department of Community Services
City of Carmel
One Civic Square
Carmel, Indiana 46032
317.571.2424
317.571.2426 fax
~ Ple~1s-e considt2r th~ ~il'ollJOnlnel1t -b<.:~tore printing
10/10/2008
Page 2 of2
From: Jon Dobosiewicz [mailto:jond@NF-LAW.COM]
Sent: Friday, October 10,20081:14 PM
To: Holmes, Christine B
Subject: Nelson Funeral Home
Christine,
Please see an updated parking exhibit attached. Upon your review and determination that the proposal meets the
parking requirements for the proposed use please reply back. Upon receipt of your e-mail I will forward a e~mail
and letter to your attention withdrawing the parking variance filed today.
Thank you for meeting to discuss this matter yesterday and please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jon
Jon C. Dobosicwicz
Land Use Professional
Nelson & Franl{enberger, PC
3105 East. 98th Street, Suite 170
Indianapolis, IN 46280
317-844-0106 Voice
317-428-8393 Cell
317-846-8782 Fax
jon@nf-Law.com
10/10/2008