Source: https://ecode360.com/9480991
Timestamp: 2020-01-25 08:26:24
Document Index: 90658784

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 57', '§ 1401', '§ 1401']

Town of Wilson, NY Cemeteries
§ 57-1 Sale of lots; use.
§ 57-2 Registrar.
§ 57-3 Responsibilities of Registrar; compensation.
§ 57-4 Charges.
§ 57-5 Permit required; information to be furnished.
§ 57-6 Restrictions on use of lots.
§ 57-7 Transfer of lots and grave sites.
§ 57-8 Erection of corner posts or markers.
§ 57-9 Planting of trees, shrubs and flowers.
§ 57-10 Approval of markers and other structures.
§ 57-11 Approval of foundations and placement for markers and other structures.
§ 57-12 Removal of prohibited articles; right of access.
§ 57-13 Defacing or damaging cemetery property prohibited.
§ 57-14 Liability of Town limited.
§ 57-15 Provisions to be furnished with deed; applicability without notice.
§ 57-16 Penalties for offenses.
§ 57-17 Amendments.
§ 57-18 Hours of operation.
§ 57-19 New cemeteries.
Chapter 57 Cemeteries
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Wilson 7-7-1980 by L.L. No. 2-1980; amended in its entirety 5-11-1987 by L.L. No. 3-1987. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
All lots in the cemetery grounds owned by the Town of Wilson, known as "Greenwood Cemetery," and any other cemeteries that the Town may operate are hereafter to be sold in accordance with the applicable statutes of the State of New York and the provisions of this chapter hereinafter set forth. No lots sold hereunder or now used as a burial place shall be used for any other purpose than a burial place for deceased human beings.
The Town Board of the Town of Wilson does hereby create the unofficial position of Registrar. Such position shall be filled by appointment of the Town Board, and such person so appointed shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The person appointed to such Registrar's position shall not be given the status of an officer of the Town of Wilson but shall have the status of an agent acting for and on behalf of the Town Board and shall act only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. There shall be no compensation for employment in such position as Registrar, except as hereinafter set forth.
The Registrar shall be responsible for selling lots in the cemetery and, in general, for carrying out such transactions as are necessary and appropriate in the sale of such lots and the transfer of title to the same. In addition, the Registrar shall arrange for all interments and have the responsibility for seeing that lot sales and interments in the cemeteries are carried out in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The Registrar shall be entitled to receive as a commission for the sale of lots sold by him such amount as the Town Board shall fix from time to time. The Registrar shall be responsible for the keeping of complete records of lot sales, interments and ownership of lots within Greenwood Cemetery and any other cemeteries that the Town may operate and shall make or cause to be made such books, records, lists or maps which are necessary and appropriate for these purposes.
The rates to be charged for the sale of lots and interments in Greenwood Cemetery and any other cemeteries that the Town may operate and all other cemetery charges, including, without limitation, charges for single-grave sites, double-grave sites, four-grave plots, six-grave plots and eight-grave plots, shall be established and thereafter may be increased, decreased, eliminated or altered in any other fashion by resolution of the Town Board.
There shall be reserved by the Town Board within Greenwood Cemetery and any other cemeteries that the Town may operate a section of such cemetery which shall be used only for single-grave sites. The sections so reserved shall be appropriately marked on the records and maps of Greenwood Cemetery and any other cemeteries that the Town may operate. The charges for purchase and/or interment therein shall be governed by the provisions of Subsection A above.
The Registrar shall be responsible for collecting and turning over to the Town Board all interment fees and gross consideration received for the sale of any lots. Commissions payable to the Registrar for the sale of lots shall be made after submission and audit of a voucher by the Town Board in accordance with the Town Law.
No interment shall be allowed without a permit being first obtained from the Registrar. At the time for applying for the permit, the following information must be furnished:
The age of the deceased, including date of birth, if known.
The place of birth of the deceased, if known.
The date of death.
The time and date of interment.
If not an adult, the name of the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of the deceased.
Lot owners are prohibited from allowing interments to be made on their lots for compensation. Interments in a lot are restricted to those entitled to burial therein according to the provisions of § 1401 of the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law. Permission for burial of those not entitled to burial according to said section must be filed with the Town Board of the Town of Wilson by the low owner(s).
No lot owner may transfer his or her lot or any lot or grave site within a multigrave plot, except as set forth in § 1401 of the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law; subject, however, to also obtaining the consent of the Town Board of the Town of Wilson acting through its duly authorized Registrar.
Corner posts or markers of a suitable material may be erected by the Town of Wilson at the corners of plots or lots, as the case may be, in the sole discretion of the Town Board. Only the Town of Wilson through its appropriate agent may erect such corner markers.
The Town Board of the Town of Wilson expressly reserves the right and power to plant and cultivate such trees, shrubs and flowers as it may deem proper within the grounds of Greenwood Cemetery or any other cemeteries that the Town may operate. The planting of trees, shrubs and flowers by others, including lot owners, shall not be done except as may be specifically authorized by the Town Board or its duly appointed and authorized agent.
The Town Board of the Town of Wilson, through its Town Board or its duly appointed and authorized agent, reserves the right to approve the design of any monument, memorial, headstone or other marker and all vaults, tombs, effigies or other structures placed within said cemetery, and if such approval is not secured for the installation of any such structure prior to the installation thereof, the Town Board, or its duly appointed and authorized agent, shall have the right to remove such structure or marker at the lot owner's cost and expense. The Town Board, or its duly appointed and authorized agent, may initiate any action at law in order to collect such expenses.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, memorial markers which are flush to the grave level of the ground in any given grave site shall be allowed without obtaining specific or prior permission of the Town Board or its duly appointed and authorized agent.
Urns, crocks and other such structures of a permanent nature built or designed for the holding of flowers or other plantings will not be permitted or allowed within the cemetery grounds except where specific authorization and consent is obtained from the Town Board of the Town of Wilson acting through its duly appointed and authorized agent.
Except as otherwise set forth, wooden, iron or other crosses, tablets, metal wreaths, baskets, boxes, easels, urns or trellises or miscellaneous objects shall not be placed upon graves or lots. The Town of Wilson will not be responsible for loss or damage to any portable articles left upon any lot, grave or other part of the cemetery.
Fences, copings, hedges or other enclosures around or within lots or graves will not be allowed.
Funeral designs or floral pieces will be removed as soon as they become unsightly. Employees will decline to attempt finding them after being so removed.
No glass or plastic containers or plastic flowers shall be permitted or allowed on any grave site or on any portion of the grounds of Greenwood Cemetery or any other cemetery that the Town may operate. Fabric wreaths or easels will be permitted between November 15 and March 15 and for a period of two weeks immediately before and after May 30 of each year.
All planting of shrubs, flowers, etc., shall be made under the supervision and direction of the Town Board or its duly appointed and authorized agent, and the right is hereby expressly reserved to remove any trees, shrubs, flowers, etc., not so planted, without prior notice to the lot owners.
Cut flowers may be placed upon graves; however, they shall be kept solely within metal containers which shall be placed in the soil so that the tops of such containers shall be on a level with the ground.
[Amended 6-15-1998 by L.L. No. 3-1998]
The Town Board of the Town of Wilson, through it duly appointed and authorized agent, hereby expressly reserves the right to approve all foundations for any monument, marker, urn, vault, tomb, headstone or any other structure which is allowed or permitted within the grounds of Greenwood Cemetery or any other cemetery that the Town may operate. The Town Board also reserves the right to approve the placement of any marker, memorial, headstone or other structure. In addition, foundations for and under all of the above-named structures and any other similar structures to be placed in the cemetery shall be required, unless expressly waived, in writing, by the duly appointed and authorized agent or the Town Board. Such foundations shall be constructed of a suitable material, such as concrete, and they shall be of a size at least equal to the area of the bottom of such structure and shall extend to a minimum depth of 38 inches below the ground surface.
The Town Board reserves the right to remove any article found within the grounds of Greenwood Cemetery, or any other cemetery that the Town may operate, not permitted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. In addition, agents and employees of the Town Board shall have the right to enter upon or use any adjoining lot or lots to carry out its responsibilities as to interment or maintenance of the cemetery.
All persons are prohibited from writing upon, defacing, marking, cutting or otherwise injuring any monument, tree, fence or other structure and from picking any flowers, wild or cultivated, breaking or injuring any tree, shrub or plant in or belonging to Greenwood Cemetery or any other cemetery that the Town may operate.
The Town of Wilson assumes no responsibility for monuments, memorials or markers or any other articles of any nature removed from any lot or grave or for any damage or destruction of any such articles.
An abstract of the appropriate provisions of this chapter shall be made and attached to every deed conveying any lot or lots within Greenwood Cemetery or any other cemetery the Town may operate; however, the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to all lot owners and all other persons, whether or not actual notice of those rules and provisions has been given to such owners or persons.
Any person who shall violate any rule or regulation of any section of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty for the violation of any such rule or regulation not exceeding $25, which sum shall be recoverable by the Town of Wilson in a civil action.
The Town Board of the Town of Wilson reserves the right to amend those rules and the provisions of this chapter without notice to any person; however, every effort will be made to communicate the same to lot owners.
The hours for the operation of Greenwood Cemetery or any other cemeteries that the Town may operate are from dawn to dusk; that is, from sunrise to sunset as the same may vary from season to season. The Town Board reserves the right to close, lock up and secure the cemetery at any time, including the hours during which said cemetery is officially closed. There shall be no unnecessary traffic or movement throughout or within said cemetery, and all persons are prohibited from driving through or parking in said cemetery, except where there are bona fide reasons to be present on the grounds which are directly related to the purposes and operations of the cemetery.
[Added 2-21-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
No person shall cause the remains of a human being to be buried or establish a burial ground for such purpose, by disposal or burial by cremation or in a grave, mausoleum, vault, columbarium or other receptacle within the Town of Wilson, outside the Village of Wilson, not set apart and recognized as a municipal, religious, or not-for-profit corporating cemetery, without the consent of the Town Board after a public hearing and having deposited adequate and appropriate funds for perpetual maintenance of said grounds.
The Town Board shall consider availability of suitable and appropriate approved sites; the health and safety of the community; the character of the site under consideration as appropriate for a burial site; the likelihood of the site becoming a public charge as well as considerations raised under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
A bond shall be deposited with the Town of Wilson to insure adequate and appropriate funds are available for the maintenance of said burial grounds. The amount of the maintenance fund shall be determined annually by the Town Board.
"Adequate and appropriate funds" is a relative term to be determined by the Town Board of the Town of Wilson in each instance in order to establish an adequate trust fund for the perpetual maintenance of said ground; however, in no event shall it be less than $10,000.
Any person who shall be found to violate any provision of this section shall be served by the Town Code Enforcement Officer with written notice providing a reasonable time limit for the exhumation of the buried remains. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations. Any person who shall continue any violations beyond said time limit shall be guilty of an offense and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in an amount not exceeding $250 for each violation. Each day in which any violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense. The provisions of this section shall be in addition to and shall not preclude the enforcement of this chapter by application to the New York State Supreme Court for injunctive relief or by any other lawful remedy. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall become liable to the Town for any expense, loss, or damage, including attorney's fees, occasioned by it by reason of such violation.