BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The applicant seeking to build a crematory near Worthington Springs is suing Union County after commissioners denied a zoning special exception that would have permitted the facility.
Lawyers for JR Davis Acquisitions LLC wrote in a complaint that the site plan submitted to the county for the facility “demonstrated that the proposed crematory use was compatible with surrounding land use and met or exceeded the county’s applicable standards of performance.”
In March, commissioners voted 4-1 to rezone the nine-acre parcel on Southwest 119th Loop, also known as Little Springs Road, from Residential Single-Family Mobile Home to Rural Residential. That change would have allowed the crematory construction if the county’s board of adjustments had granted the landowner a special exception.
However, in August, county commissioners, acting as the board of adjustments, denied the special exception 3-2.
Archer-Milton Funeral Home owner Garrett Milton emphasized his company’s service to the community during both proceedings. He told commissioners that since he purchased the funeral home in 2018, calls to the business had risen from 118 to 178 annually.
He also tried to rebuff claims that the facility would create health hazards to nearby residents, pointing to crematories in Starke and Gainesville, which are in residential areas.
However, nearby homeowners, like Steven Hessler, said before both votes that they did not believe the data Milton presented to commissioners from the EPA and the Crematorium Association of North America, which concluded the facilities are safe.
“The first thing you see on Google about the EPA when you type in ‘EPA wrongdoing’ is it says they like to put business ventures ahead of human health,” Hessler told commissioners. “So, to just go off the EPA standing, they like businesses, and they like money more than they care about people’s health.”
In the civil complaint, lawyers for the landowner repeated many of Milton’s claims to commissioners during the zoning hearings.
“The proposed crematory would provide numerous public benefits to Union County residents,” lawyers wrote. “The County currently lacks a sufficient number of crematories despite its cremation rate being consistent with statewide averages. As a result, cremations must be outsourced to surrounding counties, increasing both cost and inconvenience to Union County residents. The proposed facility would address this gap, generating nearly $5,000 in tax revenue for the County annually, while saving residents approximately $100-$150 per cremation. In addition, the facility would create local jobs, attract business, and provide a much-needed service to the community.”
The complaint asks the court to direct the county to grant the petitioner’s application and award the petitioner reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
