January 13, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Mahwah Board of adjustment approves pet cremation unit by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved the installation of a pet cremation unit on a 14-acre pet cemetery site in the township’s C-200 conservation zone district on Snow Mountain Road. The board unanimously approved the use of a crematory unit in a garage of the single family house on the site as an expansion of a non-conforming use with the conditions that it must meet all NJDEP requirements, the state’s building code, and all fire code regulations. The cemetery is owned by Rhoda Perrano. Until recently, Perrano also operated a pet crematory business in Hillburn New York. She closed that business, and moved the six by eight foot crematory unit to her Mahwah pet cemetery property with the hope that she would receive approval to use the unit there. It is located within an existing garage of the cemetery caretaker’s single family house. There was considerable discussion at the zoning board’s public meeting in December about the ramifications of permitting the crematory on the property. Board member Nick Savino pointed out that crematories were not approved for this site in the past. He also questioned if this use is prohibited by the township’s zoning ordinance since no other cemeteries in Mahwah have crematories. He also recalled that the board denied a previous application by Perrano for a crematory because the board did not want anything on the property other than a cemetery. Perrano’s attorney, Bruce Whitaker, explained that the prior application was denied by the board in 1998 because that proposal would have allowed the public to come to the site for cremations. “This application is different,” Whitaker said, explaining that there would be no members of the public coming to the site for cremations, and no new structure is proposed for the cremation unit. According to Whitaker, Perrano would pick up the deceased pets at a veterinarian’s office or at a pet owner’s home and bring them to the site for the cremation. There would be no adverse impact on the community, the attorney said. Whitaker further explained that the crematory meets all the requirements of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and he emphasized that no one would know that it is operating in the garage of the caretaker’s house. He also argued that the crematory would serve the needs of the community. Perrano advised the board that she suspended the operation of a pet crematory in Hillburn, which she had operated for 13 years, in order to be able to be at the Mahwah site on a regular basis. She explained that the crematory she wants to use in her garage was previously located at the Hillburn site. She also pointed out that there are currently no pet crematories in Bergen County. Perrano explained that the crematory unit is a “hightech” piece of equipment that would operate automatically and require no change to the outside of her house or garage. The chimney from the unit would be enclosed in a residential type chimney facade and would be built according to the state’s building code. It would have no emissions other than heat, and there would be no odors from the unit because everything is combusted inside the crematory. According to Perrano, there are 16,000 grave sites on her property, but only 373 plots have been filled in the past 18 years, while she has been doing eight to 10 cremations a week in her Hillburn facility. She explained that the cost of a pet burial is $750 to $850, while a cremation costs $230. Asked what she did with the ashes, she advised they are returned to the pet owner if requested, or, in the case of communal cremations, the law permits her to scatter those ashes at the cemetery. The operation of a pet cemetery on the site was approved by the zoning board in 1992. In 1998, the board denied an application to build an office on the site with a cremation facility, which would have members of the public coming to the site. In 2003, the board approved a caretaker’s house on the site to permit a “hands-on” person to be on the property at all times. Library hosts Mathew Brady program Charles F. McSorley will present “Mathew B. Brady: Cameraman of the Civil War” on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Mahwah Public Library. This lecture and slide presentation explores the life and times of the celebrated New York City photographer. The discussion focuses on Brady’s efforts to preserve a watershed period on film. The program is free. No tickets are necessary. Seats are available on a “first come” basis. This program is offered through the Horizons Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. 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