Monclova Township: Cremation business may move to county

8/11/2004

DELTA - A pet cremation business is considering leaving Monclova Township and moving to Swancreek Township.

Ryan Bauman has requested a conditional use permit for property along Fulton County Road C because he wants to buy the Karnik Memorial Garden in Monclova Township and relocate it in Swancreek Township. The township's board of zoning appeal is scheduled to consider the request next week.

Mr. Bauman's parents founded Karnik Memorial Garden in 1982. If the conditional use permit is granted, Mr. Bauman plans to buy the business from his mother Charon Bauman, who is retired. The land where the Karnik Memorial Garden is on Black Road has been sold and the company is leasing space.

When Mr. Bauman bought land along Road C in Swancreek Township a couple of years ago, there was no zoning in that portion of the township. But in November, 2002, voters approved agriculture-residential zoning there. Mr. Bauman must obtain a conditional use permit to operate the business.

The zoning issue was placed on the ballot after neighbors in that area petitioned the trustees, said trustee Jim Meyer, and after a series of public hearings and informational meetings. The eastern half of the township is zoned along with a small portion in the middle of the township in the Peaceful Valley area, he said.

Mr. Bauman's property is near Mr. Meyer's home. "It doesn't bother me personally," Mr. Meyer said about the plans for an animal cremation business.

The zoning board of appeals will consider the permit request during its meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 19 in the Swancreek Township Hall. It is up to the board members, not the trustees, to make a decision on the permit, Mr. Meyer said. Decisions by the appeals board can be appealed to the Fulton County Common Pleas Court.

Mr. Bauman said that he has talked with his neighbors along County Road C, and he said that he has "100 percent support. No one has any reservation."

He would like to create a memorial park that clients could visit. His business would have an indoor crematorium for domestic pets. The building would be 40 by 60 square feet.

The furnace for the crematorium would be approved by the state Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Bauman said, and the operation is smokeless and odorless. "It emits less pollutants than a fireplace," he said. "We follow state EPA regulations."