In the unlikely event he hasn’t gotten the message, this is to tell Greg Kunkowski, the operator of Woodbine Cemetery, that Oceanport is willing to do whatever it can to prevent him from opening a crematorium.
Over the last few months the borough has sought, by every means available to it, to prevent a crematorium from ever being located at the cemetery.
Borough officials have indeed put up some serious roadblocks to Kunkowski’s plan through municipal ordinances.
The most recent proposed addition to those obstacles is certainly something the borough needs anyway, an ordinance requiring environmental impact studies for larger proposed development sites, but the degree to which it targets Kunkowski’s planned crematorium cannot be missed.
Residents will be hard-pressed to find fault with borough officials’ efforts on their behalf.
For all their efforts, though, it took both officials and residents to address the matter in the one way sure to prevent a crematorium at Woodbine.
The council may have made the process more expensive by creating ordinances regulating crematoriums, but under existing state law, Kunkowski was likely to prevail if he really wanted to proceed.
No matter what regulations are proposed at the municipal level, regulation of crematoriums rests with the state.
Borough officials and residents have rightly turned to their state representatives to have the laws regarding crematoriums changed to prohibit construction of those buildings in primarily residential areas.
In the final hours of the legislative session Tuesday, those changes passed. While the Atlanticville’s deadline occurred before the legislation could be signed by the acting governor, the measure assuredly reached his desk.
As long as it is signed before the end of next week, officials and residents can claim victory.
If for some reason the bill is not signed into law, the whole process will have to start over again. In that case, residents and officials better be ready for a long fight.