Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 530 - Historical Preservation And Heritage Commission › Chapter 10 - General Procedures › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 2 - Registration and Protection of Historic Cemeteries › Section 530-RICR-10-00-2.5 - Regulation of Excavation or Construction at Historic Cemeteries

Current through June 14, 2024
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to
				 disturb, excavate, deposit fill, remove or destroy buried human remains, grave
				 markers, funerary objects or associated cultural remains and artifacts, or
				 conduct any other activities that would damage or diminish the integrity of any
				 historic cemetery or any historic structure or gravesite located in a historic
				 cemetery without first obtaining a permit from the city or town council to
				 alter or remove said historic cemetery.
B. This requirement shall not apply to the
				 ordinary installation of gravesites or monuments, markers, or mausoleums.
				 Nothing in this regulation shall be deemed to prohibit the routine maintenance
				 and repair of historical gravesites, nor shall it contravene the authority of
				 municipal bodies under R.I. Gen. Laws §
										45-5-12 to hold, manage, repair, or maintain any neglected burial ground.
C. No construction, excavation or other
				 ground disturbing activity is allowed within twenty-five (25) feet of a
				 recorded historic cemetery without first obtaining a permit from the city or
				 town in accordance with §
										2.5(D)     of
				 this Part or in accordance with §§
										2.5(E), (F),
				 and (G) of this Part.
D. The city
				 or town building official may issue a permit to allow excavation or
				 construction within twenty-five (25) feet of a historic cemetery when the
				 boundaries of the cemetery are adequately documented and there is no reason to
				 believe additional graves exist outside the recorded cemetery and the proposed
				 construction or excavation activity will not damage or destructively alter the
				 historic cemetery through erosion, flooding, filling, or encroachment. In order
				 to assure adequate documentation for the purposes of this section, the building
				 official may require the property owner at his or her expense to undertake an
				 archaeological investigation which is conducted under a permit issued by the
				 Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission to determine the boundaries
				 of the unmarked cemetery and to establish that additional graves do not exist
				 in an area twenty-five (25) feet in width along the perimeter of any cemetery,
				 grave or archaeological burial site. A written report shall be produced
				 incorporating the findings of the archaeological investigation in text and
				 graphic form. A copy of the report shall be provided to the building official
				 and to the Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. In the event the
				 building official denies a request for a permit, the owner may apply for
				 approval by the city or town council in accordance with §§
										2.4(E), (F),
				 and (G) of this Part.
E. The city
				 or town council may issue a permit to allow the alteration or removal of a
				 historic cemetery or excavation or construction within twenty-five (25) feet of
				 a historic cemetery only after concluding, based on evidence submitted to the
				 council at a public hearing, that all alternatives to the proposed activity
				 have been examined and that no prudent and feasible alternative to the proposed
				 activity is possible.
F. In order
				 for the city or town council to clearly assess the proposed project, the
				 following information should be submitted unless otherwise required by the city
				 or town council. When evaluating the information submitted, the city or town
				 council shall consult the register of historic cemeteries maintained by the
				 recorder of deeds and should give consideration to the types of information
				 described in §
										2.4(D)     of
				 this Part. The city or town council may request and consider comments of the
				 Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission regarding documentation of
				 the historic cemetery or gravesite.
1.
				 Detailed site plans drawn to scale and stamped by a registered land surveyor at
				 a minimum scale of one (1) inch equals forty (40) feet, showing the boundaries
				 of the property in question, topographical contour intervals of no more than
				 one foot, a surveyed boundary of the cemetery and a setback area of no less
				 than twenty-five (25) feet, and a plan of all improvements proposed on the site
				 that necessitate disturbance of the cemetery;
2. A written description of the cemetery; its
				 age and condition; historical importance; whether the cemetery is religious,
				 family, publicly owned or other kind of cemetery; a listing of names and vital
				 dates of those interred as may be determined from grave markers on site; and a
				 cemetery plan indicating position of graves, and to the extent possible, the
				 identities of those interred;
a. When an
				 application has been made for alteration, construction, or excavation at a
				 historic cemetery and the boundary is unknown or in doubt, the applicant, at
				 his or her own expense, shall conduct an archaeological investigation to
				 determine the actual boundaries of the cemetery prior to final consideration by
				 the city or town council of the application to alter or remove it.
				 Archaeological investigation shall be performed by a qualified archaeologist
				 working under a permit issued by the Historical Preservation & Heritage
				 Commission and a report shall be submitted to the city or town
				 council.
b. Alternatively, when the
				 applicant proposes to preserve the historic cemetery, grave, or archaeological
				 burial site, the city or town council may accept the results of an
				 archaeological investigation of the proposed site alteration area that
				 demonstrates that no graves or archaeological burial sites are affected. The
				 archaeological investigation shall be performed by a qualified archaeologist
				 working under a permit issued by the Historical Preservation & Heritage
				 Commission and a report shall be submitted to the city or town
				 council.
c. When an application has
				 been made for alteration, construction, or excavation at a historic cemetery
				 that is suspected to contain graves or archaeological burial sites based on
				 historical or archaeological contextual information and the boundary is unknown
				 or in doubt, the applicant, at his or her own expense, shall conduct an
				 archaeological investigation of the proposed site alteration area that
				 demonstrates that no graves or archaeological burial sites are affected. The
				 archaeological investigation shall be performed by a qualified archaeologist
				 working under a permit issued by the Historical Preservation & Heritage
				 Commission and a report shall be submitted to the city or town
				 council.
3. A detailed
				 site alteration plan indicating the extent of proposed disruption of the
				 cemetery, methods of construction or removal of human remains, reburial plan,
				 including in text and plan the relocation of graves;
4. In the event of a religious,
				 institutional, or public historic cemetery, identification of the owner and
				 reference to additional records;
5.
				 In the event of a family cemetery, a genealogical study to identify whether
				 descendants of the families of the interred can be identified and if any
				 descendants still reside in Rhode Island;
6. In the event of an archaeological burial
				 site or Native American historic cemetery, the results of archival research and
				 professional archaeological investigation performed by a qualified
				 archaeologist working under a permit issued by the Historical Preservation
				 & Heritage Commission, and a listing of the Indian Tribe or Tribes whose
				 ancestral lands included the property.
7. Whether the cemetery or burial place has
				 significant archaeological, artistic, or historical value and if further
				 studies will be completed as part of its alteration or removal; and
8. Any further information and study the city
				 or town council deems reasonably necessary to complete its consideration of the
				 request to alter a historic cemetery or gravesite in compliance with R.I. Gen.
				 Laws Chapter 23-18, including whether the alteration or removal serves the
				 interests, health, welfare and safety of the public and is not for commercial
				 or personal expediency.