A license and use agreement that will allow Ridgelawn Memorial Cemetery to have another access road was approved 5-0 by the Oxford Village Council last week.
The agreement enables the cemetery, at its own expense, to develop an unimproved strip of municipal-owned right-of-way at Dayton and Willow streets into a secondary ingress/egress. The village land is bordered by the cemetery to the south and by houses on the east and west sides.
As part of council’s motion, the access road plan must go to the village planning commission for final approval.
‘That plan was approved by your engineer (the Pontiac-based Nowak & Fraus) long ago,? said village attorney Bob Davis, addressing council. ‘It was actually prepared by your engineer long ago.?
Currently, the only way to access the 11-acre cemetery is from W. Burdick St.
This secondary access point will be used as a way for delivery and emergency vehicles to enter and exit the property as needed. It will also be used as an exit for vehicles leaving large burial services and special events such as Wreaths Across America in December and Memorial Day in May.
Per the agreement, ‘for any large event? at the cemetery, Ridgelawn will ’employ personnel to direct vehicular traffic safely from the premises.?
This was required because the access road will be sending vehicles through a residential neighborhood that lacks sidewalks and normally has a low level of traffic given Dayton is a dead-end street.
When not in use for cemetery-related business, a gate will prevent non-unauthorized vehicles from accessing the road.
The agreement has an initial term of 10 years and includes the option to extend this term for two additional 5-year periods, for a maximum of 20 years.
Ridgelawn will pay a license fee of $1 for the initial 10-year term and $1 for any renewal term. The cemetery also agreed to maintain the site at its own expense.
Chris Acheson, who manages the cemetery that’s been owned and operated by his family since 1927, said Ridgelawn has been trying to turn this piece of village land into an access road for decades, but the project kept encountering various roadblocks that prevented it from happening.
‘This has been a long, arduous process, but I believe we’re in good order,? Davis said.
The access road is something that’s been desired by both the cemetery and the Oxford Fire Department.
In a Jan. 7 e-mail to the village, Fire Chief Pete Scholz wrote, ‘The Oxford Fire Department has expressed our opinion in the past and still holds that an additional ingress/egress is vital to public and private life safety and property protection.?
‘The current entrance (on W. Burdick St.) is extremely difficult to access with fire apparatus,? Scholz continued. ‘In the event of a funeral with only one way in and out, the access to the residence (in the cemetery) or the ability to reach a patient in the event of an emergency medical (situation) is extremely difficult, if not prohibitive. In the event of a fire, the rear entrance from Dayton would be the only means of getting a tanker close to the structure.?
There is a house located inside the cemetery.
Not only is the village getting a piece of public property improved at virtually no cost to the taxpayers, but because of the license agreement, the municipality still retains control of it and is able to dictate how it’s used by Ridgelawn.
Per the agreement, the license may be ‘suspended or revoked at the will and sole discretion of? the village for reasons including ’emergency conditions affecting the public health, welfare or safety;? failure to pay any fees or taxes; or ‘failure to perform or observe any other provision of this license.?