(A) As a condition for the approval and continuance of a special use permit for a cemetery, the following shall apply.
(B) Public or privately owned perpetual care cemeteries which the Board finds in conformance with the following minimum requirements:
(1) A cemetery shall contain not less than two acres of land in contiguous ownership;
(2) There shall be only one entrance from the cemetery onto a public road. The entrance shall be located at least 500 feet from the nearest intersection of another public road;
(3) A perimeter buffer strip shall be maintained around the entire cemetery to a depth of 20 feet from the cemetery property line. There shall be no burial sites provided in this buffer strip. The required buffer strip shall be suitably planted so as to effectively screen the cemetery and burial activities therein from view from outside the cemetery so far as practicable;
(4) No monument, grave marker, or other structure within the cemetery shall be allowed to protrude above the normal surface of the ground, except as specifically permitted by this chapter;
(5) A gate or other means of closing the entrance to the cemetery shall be provided, and shall be used to bar access to the cemetery at any time that it is not attended by an employee of the cemetery;
(6) A chapel, mortuary, undertaking establishment, or crematorium may be developed within the cemetery as an accessory use to the cemetery, provided that the land upon which it is built shall be and shall remain, in the same ownership as the cemetery, although the establishment itself may be conducted by persons other than the owners of the cemetery. The establishments, if developed, may be within the required perimeter buffer strip of the cemetery, but shall be no closer than 150 feet to any residential dwelling on land adjoining the cemetery;
(7) Access to the establishment shall be from within the cemetery, by means of the single entrance to the cemetery. The establishment shall be contained within a single building of not more than one story nor more than 20 feet in height. Only one building shall be permitted in any cemetery. The design and plans for the building shall be subject to approval of the Board as a condition of the special use permit and shall be submitted as a part of the application;
(8) The proposed cemetery shall not be in conflict with any element of the Land Use Plan or Thoroughfare Plan of the Town Planning Area, as approved by the Town Board;
(9) Application for approval of this special use shall include a plan of the proposed cemetery drawn at a scale of not less than one inch equal to 100 feet. The plan shall show the boundaries of the cemetery, all roads within 500 feet of the cemetery boundaries, all structures within 100 feet of the cemetery boundaries, all property lines connecting to the cemetery boundary, the names of the owners of the proposed cemetery, the names of all property owners of land adjacent to the cemetery with identification as to their respective property location, a north arrow, and the scale of the drawing. The plan shall also show within the cemetery boundaries the entrance, the required perimeter buffer strip, the number and location of all lots and burial sites, all proposed roads, parking areas, easements, and drainage structures, any other proposed roads, parking areas, easements, and drainage structures, and any other proposed development which shall be a change from the original topography, including grading and landscaping;
(10) The granting of a special use permit for this purpose shall be conditional upon subsequent compliance by the cemetery owners with all North Carolina General Statutes governing the establishment and operation of a perpetual care cemetery; and
(11) Any cemeteries existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter may be continued without a permit.
(Ord. passed 7-9-1985; Ord. passed 5-10-1990; Ord. passed 3-9-1999; Ord. passed 8-10-1999; Ord. passed 3-14-2000; Ord. passed 5-9-2000; Ord. passed 9-9-2003; Ord. passed 9-13-2005; Ord. passed 9-12-2006; Ord. passed 6-29-2021) Penalty, see § 154.999