Town Planning Commission Special Session recommends approval of cemetery ordinance change

The Front Royal Planning Commission met Wednesday, first in a work session to review the final touches to the Town’s Comprehensive Plan update prior to its presentation for a public hearing at its April 19th regular meeting. The work session was followed immediately by a Special meeting to facilitate a request from Dynamic Life Praise and Worship Center. In the absence of Chairman Darryl Merchant, the meeting was chaired by Vice-Chairman Daniel Wells.

Town Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Daniel Wells presides over a quiet special meeting of the Commission to consider amendments to the town’s zoning ordinance regarding cemeteries. Royal Examiner Photos Stephen Sill

VDOT representative Adam Campbell discussed VDOT’s input to the plan and answered questions about the product as a whole. Commissioner Marshner asked if the removal of the planned East-West connector from the land use map would adversely affect its eventual construction. Mr. Campbell said the proposed connector remained in the future transportation plan, but since its eventual site was not known, it wasn’t necessary to be on the map yet. The conceptual planned cost could be estimated at between $25 and $40 million, depending on the configuration. The western termination point, for example, still hasn’t been worked out. Commissioner Glenn Wood raised the subject of a flyover at Leach Run Parkway and Happy Creek Road to service Shenandoah Shores Road. Mr. Campbell recalled that the construction cost of such a flyover access project could reach $35-to-$40 million, and that is likely the reason that it had not been carried out. After a discussion of the various transportation priorities in the plan, the Commission agreed to present it for a public hearing on the 19th. Once the Planning Commission has delivered its final version to the Town Council, there will be a final public hearing before the Town Council votes to accept it.

VDOT Representative Adam Campbell discusses the agency’s input to the Town’s new Comprehensive Plan.

As noted above, immediately following the work session, the Commission held a Special Meeting to consider a request from the town council to develop and recommend an amendment

to Chapter 175 of the Town’s Zoning Ordinance to amend the definition of “cemetery” to Chapter 175-3; add “cemeteries” as an accessory use to churches in the Residential District (R-3), and to add supplemental regulations for “Cemeteries” to Chapter 175-30.2. The ordinance change request did not include a direct reference to Dynamic Life Praise and Worship Center, but the impetus behind it was a request to the town council for Dynamic Life’s widely beloved late founding pastor, Carlton Rogers, to be buried in the church grounds. Pastor Rogers passed away on February 5th. The Town Council, in turn, urged the planning department to create a means for churches to establish cemeteries and to define supplemental rules for doing so.

Virginia law regarding cemeteries is broad, and localities must deal with many historical and environmental issues when considering siting for a final resting place. The new amendment will provide a framework for future requests for cemeteries in the town that comply with established zoning rules and practices. There is nothing in the new text of the ordinance or the state law to preclude the scattering of ashes or reposing of them in vaults or columbariums without the designation of a cemetery.

The public hearing yielded three speakers, all members or representatives of the Dynamic Life Praise and Worship Center. Each commended the planning department and the commission for taking up the ordinance change proposal. Elvi Rogers, the late pastor’s widow, told the commission that her husband had a heart for the community and shared a long list of ways that Dynamic Life had positively impacted the community, thanks to the vision of Carlton Rogers.

Elvi Rogers describes the impact that her late husband, Pastor Carlton Rogers, had on the community as the founder and pastor of Dynamic Life Praise and Worship Center

With a minimum of discussion, the commission voted, on a motion by Michael Williams, seconded by Connie Marshner, to recommend the ordinance change for approval.