LAPEL — Lapel Town Council has made a final decision on a rezoning request to allow a new crematorium in town, supporting the recommendation of its planning board to deny the request.
The Keller Crematorium proposal and street safety concerns were some of the topics at a recent council meeting.
Mike Keller from Keller Mortuary, 801 Main St., had presented a change in location for his proposed crematorium to the Lapel Planning Board recently, but the board voted to deny the special use permit Keller was seeking after several negative comments from community members.
Keller sought approval from the town boards to locate a crematorium in a building on State Road 13, while he would continue to operate his mortuary from the current location he rents on Main Street.
Keller hoped his idea would ease concerns the boards and some local business owners expressed about a crematorium on Main Street, especially regarding possible odors and the proximity to restaurants.
Keller said operating a crematorium on State Road 13 would provide better parking and access for drop-offs. He also had investigated a taller smoke stack for the new location and creating a decorative finish so the building would look nicer.
While Planning Board members said they appreciated the change in location, in the end they denied the rezoning request and sent their recommendation to the council, which backed their decision.
“We would like to have more businesses, but that is just not the kind we want in a residential area,” council President Deb Wainscott said.
Keller has stated he would be forced to move out of town if the rezoning was not approved.
Town officials said they’ve heard he will follow up on the warning. While town officials would hate to see a business leave, officials must follow the will of the people, they said.
Keller did not return calls from The Times-Post seeking comment on the decision.
The council discussed another issue of community concern — a proposal to prohibit trucks from the west end of 12th Street.
The issue, brought to light by residents, is trucks on 12th Street are destroying infrastructure and School Street, which is made up of bricks.
The town has prepared a new ordinance to prohibit commercial trucks of a certain weight from using 12th Street between Main and Eerie streets.
Chad Pilkington of Lapel Truck and Trailer on 11th Street also has a lot used as a base for Asplundh trucks, which connects to 12th Street. He has asked the council to reconsider the plan.
Pilkington owns a growing business and would hate to have to move out of town, he said.
He also questioned why the proposal was up for discussion when other trucks, such as trash trucks that could weigh thousands of pounds, use those streets all the time without a problem.
Pilkington said Asplundh trucks are not that heavy, and typically trucks coming to or from his property are empty because they are going to be worked on.
Tony Pearson, council vice president, moved to table the discussion for further investigation. Wainscott agreed, while council members Dave Taylor and Lindsay Washmuth didn’t want to table the idea, which created a deadlock.
Lapel Police Chief Kelly Naselroad said it would be difficult for his department to enforce the ordinance based on weight, because officers have no way of knowing the weight of a truck.
He recommended to either have no ordinance or to ban all commercial trucks on the road.
Taylor said he felt there’s a real problem on School Street and made a motion to prohibit commercial trucks there and not on 12th Street, with a fine of $100 per violation.
Buses would be excluded under Indiana law, as are delivery trucks such as UPS and FedEx.
The council members then voted to adopt the ordinance.
In other business:
• The council accepted a bid to replace the roof on Town Hall, 825 Main St., from Five Star roofing company at a cost of $10,800.
• Naselroad asked for permission to start requesting applications for a new full-time officer to replace Jon Hosier, who resigned.
• The town has hired John Daniels as a part-time employee.