North Battleford City Council has denied an application by Sallows and McDonald Funeral Home to build a crematorium on their site at 1271-103rd St. But they haven't said no to it being located somewhere else.
City Planner Tim Lafreniere told council members Monday substantial public input had come in on the notice of application, including correspondence from five individuals and petitions signed by about 40 people.
The evening's agenda had included an expected delegation from Sallows and McDonald, however no one from the business attended. Previously, said Lafreniere, they had provided printed material from the manufacturer indicating the operating standards expected to be met and suggesting the crematorium was not expected to create visible emissions.
"In light of the fact that the proponent of this project did not come forward to council to make the representation and given what appears to me here to be significant concern over a single development, it's my suggestion to council that this application for discretionary development be denied and that administration be asked to work with this proponent to find alternate locations within the community where we can do this without impacting the neighbourhood," said Lafreniere.
Opposition to the project included concern that air quality would be affected, that toxic substances could be emitted that would affect the health of neighbourhood residents and that property values would be negatively impacted.
There is one crematorium already located in the Battlefords, installed in an industrial area at 2741-99th St. North Battleford by Eternal Memories Funeral Service and Crematorium.
In an interview with the News-Optimist/Regional Optimist in November of 2012, funeral director Trevor Watts said, "The machines are designed so they don't emit any smoke or smell," adding that a burning fireplace would give off more emissions than a cremation machine.
"The machine could be running and you wouldn't even know it," he said.
