Bear Hollow residents have expressed concerns about a cemetery proposed near their neighborhood. Others spoke in favor of it at the March 18 county council meeting.
“I'm older than dirt, and I really would like to have a place to lay my bones,” resident Susanne Burkett said.
Burkett told the Summit County Council she's been communicating with the Snyderville Basin Cemetery District about its progress on a site for years.
“And they've been working on it and working on it, but I'm not getting any younger,” she said. Now she's hopeful about the preferred site.
Despite some neighbors’ concerns, most councilmembers liked the location. They directed county staff to work out details with the cemetery board.
Bear Hollow and other residents were concerned about the location saying it may not be very peaceful next to state Route 224 and it could detract from community character.
Some, like Alisa Schofield, were concerned about the compound effect of a cemetery and the much maligned Dakota Pacific development.
“It will destroy … habitat, the viewshed and the rural nature and the natural, native nature at the base of the Olympic Park,” she said. “This is really the only bit of open space left on the west side of Highway 224, between Kimball Junction and the Canyons.”
But cemetery board members have said the graveyard will be more park-like than traditional gothic cemeteries, with low and unobtrusive markers.
Burkett liked the sound of that, and she encouraged the board to communicate that better. She didn’t buy traffic concerns, since interments happen outside of rush hour.
“If you drive by any cemetery in town, in Oakley, in Salt Lake, there's no traffic. Why? Because nobody's there,” she laughed. “They're all underground.”
To finalize things, Summit County will need to sign off on subdividing the cemetery’s land, along with organizations such as High Valley Transit and Basin Rec. That’s because entities with vested interests in the property have to agree to change the deed restrictions that bar subdivision.
After that, the Snyderville Basin Cemetery District would become the landowner and pursue permitting with the planning department.
It would be the Snyderville Basin’s first public cemetery. Other places in the Wasatch Back already have cemeteries and some have had to expand over the years.
Hoytsville was considering such an expansion three years ago. At the time, multigenerational dairy farmer Mike Brown told KPCW a cemetery is one way to measure a community.
“Snyderville Basin … you never hear about expanding the cemetery over there,” Brown said. “And the reason why is because that is a transient community: people move in, live there for a period of their life and move out. I'm not saying all of them, but it's a transient community.”
Now, as resident Brent Harmon said March 18, there’s a real need for a cemetery on the populous westside. He’s looking forward to the day when his neighbors don’t have to look elsewhere to lay loved ones to rest.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
