(A) On any city-owned and/or operated cemetery, it shall be unlawful for any person in any manner to:
(1) Injure the fence or enclosure of any city-owned and/or operated cemetery;
(2) Injure any lot enclosure or tombstone material erected at any grave or defacing or otherwise damaging monuments or structures in the cemetery which is a felony in Kentucky and subject to prosecution;
(3) Remove any shrubs, flowers or other things in such cemetery;
(4) Cut any tree, shrub, post, or in any manner injure same;
(5) Injure the grass, herbage, streets, walks, ornaments or other things in the cemetery, whether belonging to the city or individuals;
(6) Trespass upon its bounds;
(7) Congregate therein for sports or amusements;
(8) Conduct himself in a boisterous, loud or indecent manner;
(9) Ill-treat any person therein or use profane or indecent language;
(10) Disturb any funeral, burial party, memorial service or individual being there for a lawful purpose;
(11) Leave any animal unattended on the cemetery grounds;
(12) Enter such grounds with refreshments or intoxicating liquors;
(13) Ride or drive on the grass or pluck any flower, either wild or cultivated, or remove any plant or flower, either growing or with which any grave shall have been decorated, unless done by the owner or family member of such grave;
(14) Enter the cemetery otherwise than through the regular gate(s) provided for that purpose;
(15) Disturb anyone working therein for any legitimate purpose; or
(16) Throw rubbish on drives or any part of the grounds.
(B) Vehicle restrictions; penalty.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to use, drive, ride or operate any motorcycle, motorbike, trail bike, dirt bike, go-cart, or other such vehicle on or over any lot enclosure, shrub, flowers, grass, herbage, grave or any other area of the city-owned and/or operated cemeteries, provided, however, that licensed street motorcycles and motorbikes, properly muffled, shall be permitted on the paved roadways provided for vehicular traffic.
(2) It shall be unlawful to operate a motor vehicle within the cemetery at a speed in excess of ten miles per hour; all vehicles shall be restricted to the cemetery roads and shall drive and park on the right side. No undue noise shall be permitted by vehicles traveling through the cemetery and only licensed drivers may operate vehicles within the cemetery grounds.
(3) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than $100, nor more than $500.
(4) Cemetery management reserves the right to exclude any or all vehicles from the grounds on Memorial Day, other holidays or when a special event requires exclusion due to public safety or private protection. Cemetery management also reserves the right to exclude any vehicles that might in any way damage the roads within the cemetery grounds.
(C) Landscaping, decorations, and flower regulations. Because certain types of individual lot decorations are not in harmony with the development of the cemetery as a whole or because they may intensify maintenance problems, the cemetery management enforces certain rules regarding the decoration of cemetery lots. Landscaping is permitted as provided hereinbelow.
(1) Artificial flowers, cut flowers, and decorations are not to be placed on the ground from March 1 through November 1 each year, except on Easter Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day and the decedent's birthday. All flower arrangements, plants, wreaths, saddles, etc. placed at time of burial will be removed from graves when they deteriorate or discolor. As soon as decorations, flowers (including receptacles), flags or emblems used for the adornment of graves become unsightly, dangerous, detrimental, diseased, a nuisance to maintenance efforts or when they do not conform to the standard maintained, they will be removed and no responsibility for their return to the owners will be assumed.
(2) All grading, landscaping, and improvements shall be preapproved by the Cemetery Administrator and the Maintenance Crew Supervisor, or designees, prior to completing. The Cemetery Administrator and Maintenance Crew Supervisor reserves the right to remove any landscape improvements that are not properly maintained.
(3) The maintenance crew under instruction of the Supervisor shall have the authority to remove any tree or shrub in part or whole which has become detrimental, dangerous, unsightly or inconvenient to adjacent lots, walks or avenues.
(4) The following items are specifically prohibited, and if so placed, will be removed by the maintenance crew: boxes, shells, toys, picture frames, ceramics, metal designs, ornaments, chairs, glass, wood, concrete or iron articles, marble chips, decorative rocks or wood chips, window boxes, pots, and glass jars.
(5) Shepherds hooks may be placed directly adjacent to headstones. Hooks placed elsewhere will be relocated by the maintenance crew and may be discarded if determined to be damaged or deteriorated.
(6) The city is not responsible for theft or damage to anything placed on graves or lots.
(D) Permission for work and liability for damages. No person shall perform any work within the cemetery except with the permission of and in accordance with the directions of cemetery management. Any person causing damage within the cemetery shall be liable to the city for such damage. Any person performing work in the cemetery without permission shall be liable for the cost of restoring the cemetery to the condition that it was in before the work was done.
(E) Use of pauper plots; burial fee. A certain portion of Auburn Cemetery is designated as "pauper plots" and shall be for the interment of persons with proof of indigence, and so much of pauper plots or other areas of Auburn Cemetery designated by the Cemetery Administrator or designee as free ground shall be appropriated to the burial of individuals without charge for the plot. A burial administration fee shall apply. Burials in such area shall be conducted during regular business hours Monday through Friday only and shall be arranged through the City Clerk's office.
(F) Auburn American Legion section. Use of Auburn American Legion section or any other sections designated for interments of veterans shall be limited to honorably discharged veterans of the United States Armed Forces who are residents of Auburn or Logan County. A burial fee will be charged as determined herein.
(G) Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for their conduct.
(H) Animals.
(1) Any domesticated animal must be leashed and under the control of a person 12 years of age or older. Leashed service animals are permitted to accompany children with disabilities under the age of 12.
(2) It shall be prohibited and classified as a civil violation for any owner, keeper or harborer of any domesticated animal to fail to remove any excreta deposited by that animal within any city-owned and/or operated cemetery.
(I) Right to correct. Should any memorial, mausoleum or tomb become unsightly, dilapidated, or a menace to visitors, cemetery management shall have the right either to correct the condition or to remove it, at the expense of the certificate holder, their representative or heirs and assigns. Planting, maintenance of lots, and placing of monuments contrary to the cemetery rules and regulations will be corrected at the direction of cemetery management at the expense of the certificate holder, their representative or heirs and assigns.
(J) Lot forfeiture. Plots may be forfeited pursuant to the procedures specified in the Commonwealth of Kentucky Statutes.
(K) Infractions. The certificate holder of record, their legal representative or their heirs and assigns shall be notified by the Administrator of any infractions of these rules and regulations in writing at their last known address. The certificate holder or their representatives or heirs and assigns shall comply with the prescribed actions determined by the Administrator to be necessary to correct the infraction.
(L) Future expansion. Future grave lots are to be laid out in such locations and sizes as the cemetery management shall designate.
(M) City powers. These rules and regulations shall not be construed to prohibit activities expressly authorized by the city.
(N) Misrepresentations or errors. The city will not be liable for misrepresentations or errors made by the person or persons purported to be the certificate holder, legal representatives or agents.
(O) Damages to cemetery lot improvements. The City of Auburn shall not be responsible for deterioration or damage to improvements, except for any damage caused by cemetery grounds upkeep which shall be documented by the Maintenance Crew Supervisor and repaired by the city. While the city will exercise all possible care to protect the memorial or other structure on any lot and the raised lettering, carving, or ornaments on such memorial or other structure, it disclaims responsibility for any damage or injury thereto. The city is not responsible for any other damage to monuments or markers. Other repairs required due to damages to improvements shall be the responsibility of the person named on the certificate of burial or his heirs and assigns.
(P) Disclaimer for loss or damage. The city shall take reasonable precautions to protect certificate holders, their representative, or heirs and assigns, within the cemetery, from loss or damage; but it distinctly disclaims all responsibility for loss or damage from causes beyond its reasonable control, and, especially, from damage caused by the elements, an act of God, common enemy, thieves, vandals, strikers, malicious mischief makers, explosions, unavoidable accidents, invasions, insurrections, riots, or order of any military or civil authority, whether the damage be direct or collateral, other than as herein provided.
(Q) Notice of prosecution. Violations of the above rules and regulations shall be prosecuted as provided by law.
(R) Legal costs. In the event of litigation relating to any subject matter involving the holders of burial rights, the city shall be reimbursed for all its reasonable attorney fees and costs resulting therefrom by said holder(s).
(Ord. 2021-11, passed 11-8-21) Penalty, see § 99.99