The town never seems to find the money to hire the experts to clean up the mess that we call our zoning ordinance ... We have no choice but to permit a crematorium in this particular zone because our zoning ordinance ... makes it very clear that a crematorium is a permitted use. End of discussion.”

Stu Hardy, Tiverton Planning Board

I can say, without equivocation, over the four-and-a-half years I was there, we had many problems with the crematorium ... We had problems with particulates and problems with odors. It was unsettling to people to have to smell burning remains."”

Tiverton resident Linda Plazonja, on her time working for the City of Newton, Ma.

A group of local residents determined to block development of a crematorium in the north end of Tiverton has started an online fund-raising campaign to help with anticipated legal expenses. Within days of its formation last week, the group’s GoFundMe campaign received more than $5,000 in donations, representing more than half of its $10,000 goal.

Tiverton Residents Against Crematorium, the 300-plus member group behind the campaign, is motivated in part by the outcome of a Feb. 7 meeting in which the planning board signaled it will likely approve an application from Sakonnet Partners LLC to build the 2,960 square foot crematorium and chapel on a vacant parcel of land at 730 Main Road. The company’s principal, Jonathan Ferreira, is a funeral director in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and one of the owners of a fifth-generation funeral home in Fall River.

An organizer of the opposition group, Ryan LePage, said he is pleased with the fund-raising results so far and is glad to see how quickly residents came together for a common cause.

“We’re on target to hit our goal but haven’t even started reaching out to a majority of the town.”

If the planning board eventually approves the crematorium, he said, his group will take its fight to the Zoning Board of Appeals and to the Superior Court of Rhode Island if necessary.

“This is why raising a significant amount of funds for legal counsel is so important. We need to be prepared to fight this for an extended period of time.”

At the meeting earlier this month, Planning Board Chairman Stu Hardy said that despite bitter community opposition, the board is obligated to approve the application because of current zoning laws. However, he expressed frustration with the zoning ordinance, which he called “badly broken and inadequate.”

“The town never seems to find the money to hire the experts to clean up the mess that we call our zoning ordinance ... We have no choice but to permit a crematorium in this particular zone because our zoning ordinance ... makes it very clear that a crematorium is a permitted use. End of discussion.”

It was not the end of the discussion for many at the meeting, however, who expressed anger at the prospect of a crematorium operating in an area adjacent to a residential neighborhood and in close proximity to day care and primary care facilities. They said they worry about potential toxic emissions, odors, inadequate parking, traffic congestion, negative impacts on property values, and the potential for adverse psychological impacts on children who wait at school bus stops located near the property.

Linda Plazonja, a new resident in town, told the board she previously worked in the mayor’s office in Newton, Mass, where one of her responsibilities was to field complaints from local residents. 

“I can say, without equivocation, over the four-and-a-half years I was there, we had many problems with the crematorium ... We had problems with particulates and problems with odors.”

On bad weather days, Plazonja said, her office would hear from people living within a half-mile radius of the crematorium, saying they were having breathing problems “because of the stench.”

“It was unsettling to people to have to smell burning remains,” she said.

Robert Fazzina, a Main Road resident whose property abuts the proposed building site, complained about what he said were misleading images in the applicant’s architectural renderings that showed a portion of the proposed building would be blocked by trees.

We’re seeing a “nice pretty building with a bunch of trees behind it,” he said, as he held up actual enlarged photos of homes that abut the vacant lot, minus any trees, and noted that children live a hundred feet from it.

Several speakers, including Theodore Mellekas of Hambly Road, asked why the project couldn’t be located at the town’s industrial park rather than on Main Road.

Others were critical of Ferreira’s references to a 1999 EPA study that said crematorium operations result in no odors or visible emissions and that people who live or work nearby are unaware of its presence.

One speaker described more recent studies from Canada and China and some European countries that contradict this statement, and he said the studies referenced “fine particulates and other materials that are detectable even with the latest state-of-the-art materials.”

In opening comments and later, responding to critics, Ferreira, his attorney Jay Lynch, and the project’s engineer, Neal Hingorany, repeatedly emphasized that discussion regarding proposed use were not relevant to the planning board’s deliberations.

“It is a use permitted by right in the General Commercial district,” said Lynch. He added that the board is responsible for reviewing items such as site development, building design, drainage and stormwater runoff, parking, and pedestrian and vehicular access on the site.

“What we are presenting complies with all aspects of the zoning ordinance,” said Hingorany.

He said issues such as the impact on air quality would not be determined by the planning board but by the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) during the state permitting process.

Ferreira said construction of the building would benefit Tiverton residents who now travel to Westport or Fall River for cremation services.

“It is a building that is purposely unobtrusive, it blends in like an office building, but it provides tremendous value when you need it.”

In addressing concerns about emissions and odors, Ferreira said the facility would use state-of-the-art equipment and would be one of the most advanced in the state.

“If there were visible emissions and odors…that would be bad for business. The very idea that we are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Tiverton to make ourselves look bad just doesn’t carry any weight.”

The planning board will continue the public hearing and is expected to vote on the application at its March 7 meeting. Discussion at that time, said Hardy, would be limited to only those items the board has jurisdiction over, such as building design, landscaping, and signage.