Despite the tensions that can sometimes come up at public hearings, the sense of community was never lost at the Tyrone Township Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
“Young man, it has nothing to do with you being Muslim,” said resident Carol Roeder near the end of the meeting. “It’s our concern over water.”
That night the Planning Commission had its hands full with a room of 34 residents concerned with a proposed development on Germany Road near Denton Hill Road.
Cemetery Director Hasan Siddiqui tried to relieve concerns over his proposed 10-acre cemetery development.
His company, Yasin LLC, has turned in preliminary application documents for a 10-acre privately owned cemetery, within the boundaries of property already owned by his family.
Siddiqui of Tyrone Township attended the meeting with his engineer Blake Strozier. “We’re not doing this to fill up 4,000 graves,” he said. “All we want is a place for our family, our loved ones, our friends, their families, to rest in peace, next to each other.”
Because every property in the surrounding area is on a well, concerns over ground water contamination due to the cemetery was the biggest point of contention. “Once it’s contaminated it’s done, the township is done,” Scott Adams said.
Donita Sanders said her well is closest to the proposed site. She voiced concern over water quality. Part of the issue is the traditional way Muslims are buried — in a shroud, with no burial vault.
Another resident was concerned about decomposing corpses adding to the micro bacterial count of the soil.
Siddiqui said the cemetery would need to be fully compliant with all local, county and state regulations. Large soil boring samples have already been submitted.
While Siddiqui’s family is Muslim, he said that the cemetery would be open to anyone.
Other concerns raised included negatively affected property values and excessive noise.
Commission Chairman Mark Meisel presided over the hearing, and attempted to answer most of the questions. “I’m not here to support this; I’m not here to not support this,” he said.
While Muslims will bury their dead as soon as possible, large equipment can’t be operated 24/7. It would have to follow approved hours of operation.
Township planner Brian Keesey said there is no definitive evidence of positive or negative effect of cemeteries on property values.
Meisel illustrated the layers of oversight that are laid upon cemetery developments and explained the track for the project.
Yasin LLC has not submitted its final site plan application. After this hearing, the plan will likely be modified and be resubmitted. Then if the plan meets local, county and state requirements, the commission will give a recommendation to the Tyrone Township Board of Trustees, which will eventually vote on the development. Meisel estimates any development could be six months away.