Will Visalia City Council prioritize dead over the living after public outcry?

The Visalia City Council chambers were packed as community members waited for an opportunity for their voices to be heard regarding the proposed expansion of Visalia’s Public Cemetery.

The majority of those who spoke Monday night, including Supervisor Eddie Valero and Visalia Unified School District Trustee Randy Villegas, were against the expansion, citing a range of concerns.

The cemetery proposed expansion into a nearby neighborhood, buying homes that were empty and occupied.

“Some of these homeowners... they have been at their home and owned their home for approximately 30 years or more,” said David Dye, who owns property near the cemetery. “To take these homes and to run these people out of these homes makes no sense.”

The amendment would have increased the cemetery’s boundaries as well as allowed 16 cemetery-owned properties — eight of which are currently vacant — to be reclassified. Currently, they're zoned for low- and medium-density residential land uses. The new zoning would have made them public institutional or quasi-public zoning. Burial sites are prohibited in residential zones.

Overall, 11 single-family residences as well as a vacant duplex along the east side of Turner Street between Roosevelt and Allen Avenues would have been demolished.

Those who spoke in opposition to the proposal feared the impact on Houston Elementary School, which brushes up against the cemetery's boundaries. Others who spoke suggested the city look at using the Lone Oak or Elbow Creek cemeteries for future expansion projects; some proposed using one of the city's golf courses instead.

“Why not consider expanding the cemetery there, right?” Villegas asked. “If that seems like a trivial or unserious suggestion to you all because you wouldn't want to disrupt the rounds of golf... I would ask why you would even consider disrupting the lives of working-class families and individuals here in the heart of Visalia and in our Houston neighborhoods.”

Many questioned why the city council would prioritize the dead over the living.

“Would you want someone to lose their house and home,” Gwen Schrank, executive director of Schrank's Clubhouse asked council members, “so that you could be buried?”

Ultimately, council members voted 3-2 to send the proposal back to the planning commission staff, giving the public an opportunity to attend a cemetery district board meeting at the end of May.

Mayor Brian Poochigian and Vice Mayor Brett Taylor were the two "no" votes. However, it's unclear if they would have voted to allow the cemetery to overtake the neighborhood. Taylor is the CEO for the Tulare County Realtor's Association.

“Let us work toward solutions to honor the dead, absolutely,” Villegas said. “But let us not destroy the lives of their descendants and the living.”

Operating since 1860

This isn’t the first time the cemetery has undergone zoning adjustments. Over the years, the cemetery has purchased surrounding parcels from owners at market value to help with its expansion.

Prior amendments, accepted by city council members in 2005, included changes to land use designations across two acres, shifting the land from low-, medium- and high-density residential, and shopping office commercial, to public institutional; another two acres also switched to quasi-public.

Another amendment included the relocation of an existing maintenance facility to expand the existing cemetery.

The Visalia Public Cemetery has been operating since 1860.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Plan to expand Visalia Public Cemetery draws criticism from neighbors