20.3.N Cemetery

1.  A cemetery and/or mausoleum shall be located on a site a minimum of five (5) acres, and enclosed by a masonry or iron fence, or a combination of masonry and iron fence, or a wall not less than four (4) feet in height along all property lines.

2. Cemeteries and mausoleums are permitted the following accessory uses: a storage building for the storage of maintenance equipment used in maintaining cemeteries, a caretaker’s house, an administrative office, a crematorium, and a chapel.

3. The yard requirements of the zoning district are applicable to cemeteries. However, any yard abutting a residential district shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet.

4. The height regulations of the zoning district are applicable to cemeteries. However additional height is permitted up to fifty (50) feet when one (1) foot of additional setback is provided on all sides of a structure for each additional one (1) foot of height in excess of the district height limitations.

5. Crematoriums shall be located at least one-hundred (100) feet from any public right-of-way, two-hundred (200) feet from any residential district, one-hundred (100) feet from any Commercial Center and Institutional Campus District, and twenty (20) feet from any other lot line.

6. A storage building or storage area for maintenance equipment may not exceed thirty-five (35) feet in height unless it is part of a structure of greater permitted height. Such structure shall be located at least one-hundred (150) feet from any residential district. The structure is limited to five-thousand (5,000) square feet in gross floor area.

7. A caretaker’s dwelling shall not exceed the height limitation of the district within which it is located, unless it is part of a structure of greater permitted height.

8. Structures and areas for cutting, engraving, and marking of headstones and grave markers, and all materials used in conjunction therewith, shall be located at least two-hundred (200) feet from any residential district.

9. Administrative offices or chapels shall be at least ten (10) feet from the right-of-way, one-hundred (100) feet from any residential district, and twenty (20) feet from any other lot line. The aggregate gross floor area of all such structures shall not exceed fifteen-thousand (15,000) square feet.

10.  Only one (1) sign, a maximum of twenty-five (25) square feet in area, is permitted at each entrance of the cemetery or mausoleum site. One (1) additional sign, a maximum of ten (10) square feet in area, is permitted for each mausoleum not located within a cemetery, but located as a separate entity and having direct access to a public right-of-way from the mausoleum site.

11. All vehicular entrances and exits to the cemetery or mausoleum site from a public street shall be approved by the Department of Public Works.

12. All cemetery property, including all structures, shall be landscaped and properly maintained.

13. Existing cemeteries and mausoleums, their structures and accessory appurtenances, as well as their use, may be maintained, structurally altered, or enlarged within the existing boundaries of such cemeteries and/or mausoleums. Within the boundaries of the cemetery or mausoleum property, further development and use may be made for cemetery purposes of existing cemetery and/or mausoleum property, including the building, maintenance, alteration, extension, enlargement, operation, and use of burial plots, tombs, vaults, mausoleums, columbariums, administrative offices, flower shops, mortuaries, crematoriums, signs, chapels, maintenance facilities, greenhouses, warehouses, and living quarters for sextons and caretakers. Such alterations shall meet the following standards.

a. Structures fourteen (14) feet or less in height shall meet the following setback requirements:

i. Located at least five (5) feet from any lot line that abuts the side yard of a residential district.

ii. Located at least five (5) feet from any lot line that abuts the rear yard of a residential district unless the structure is constructed on the common lot line.

iii. Located at least ten (10) feet from any lot line that abuts a public right-of-way except as provided in Paragraph 13.e below.

b. A structure in excess of fourteen (14) feet, but not more than thirty (30) feet in height, shall be fifteen (15) feet from any public right-of-way or ten (10) feet from any residential district.

c. A structure in excess of thirty (30) feet in height shall be at least twenty (20) feet plus one (1) foot for each additional foot in height in excess of thirty (30) feet from any public right-of-way and residential district.

d. Where the boundaries of an existing cemetery and/or mausoleum comprise an entire square and there exists at the time of the effective date of this Ordinance one (1) or more structures located on the lot line abutting a public right-of-way, future buildings or structures may be constructed on the lot line to a height not to exceed fourteen (14) feet.

e. No new construction may reduce the number of existing off-street parking spaces, if any. This provision does not require more than the maximum off-street parking required by this Ordinance.

f. Any new construction of any burial plots, tombs, vaults, mausoleums, or columbariums may require the establishment of a perpetual care fund or provision for the maintenance of such facilities under an existing perpetual care fund, as regulated by the applicable laws of the State of Louisiana.