GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The owner of a longtime funeral home continues to get heavy pushback over a proposal to turn a vacant, single-family home into a crematorium in one east Gaithersburg community.
Some residents fear it will create health issues and harm the environment. On Monday night, the Mayor and City Council will vote on the proposal.
When Shanika Whitehurst moved into the East Deer Park neighborhood, which is now peppered with red and white placards calling DeVol Funeral Home’s proposed crematorium a “toxic plan for Gaithersburg,” it was easy to picture starting the family she has now.
“It’s a very strong community feeling, tons of trees, green space, parks, very family-oriented,” said Whitehurst, who moved to the neighborhood three years ago. “Everyone knows each other, and it’s one of those wave as you walk or drive by communities.”
But, when Whitehurst learned about the idea to bring an on-site crematory to the neighborhood, that euphoric feeling quickly changed. With a nine-month old in tow now, she and her wife are concerned about living less than a half a mile away from the proposed site.
According to documents, owner Robert DeVol wants to expand the services of DeVol Funeral Home, located at 10 East Deer Park Drive, by converting an empty single-family home next to it into an on-site crematorium .
“It’s not being against a crematorium per se, it’s being against having a crematorium down the street from my house next door to a neighbor with small children,” said Whitehurst, who fears the idea may cause respiratory and air quality issues in the neighborhood.
“The installation of a crematorium should be considered industrial use.”
Rob Bindeman owns dozens of properties throughout the city, including two apartment communities across the street from the family-owned and operated funeral home. He has been a voice for the more than 300 residents who live in them.
He, too, is against the proposal and has raised concern over the way community members were engaged in the process.
“While they did the bare minimum of mailing post cards to residents within 200 feet. of the funeral home, there was no real engagement,” said Bindeman, who is president of Landmark Realty. “This directly impacts not only my business, but the lives of my residents who live and work and go to school in the east Gaithersburg community.”
“Mr. Devol reached out to the four homeowners which we thought would have been most impacted by a project like this,” said Scott Wallace, an attorney for Robert DeVol.
Whitehurst and others say a crematory should be considered an industrial business and has no place in a residential area.
"After the zoning process, there's a significant permitting process and it also goes through emissions testing, so it is something that can operate in a city like this.
In a letter to the City Council, DeVol explained the limitations of the off-site crematory the funeral home uses and its potential to affect business. He said the equipment would be “designed, maintained and operated to meet rigorous safety standards.”
City Mayor Jud Ashman said he understands where both sides are coming from and that a tough decision lies ahead.
“It’s not an open-and-shut sort of thing, there are two very valid perspectives here,” Mayor Ashman said. “ That’s why we have a tough job before us.”
If the crematory is approved at Monday night’s 7:30 p.m. meeting, which can be seen on the city’s YouTube Channel, it will be the second on-site crematory in Montgomery County.
Currently, Robert Pumphrey Funeral Homes in Bethesda is the only one.