Panel recommends change to allow crematory

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

Shorewood-based Feerick Funeral Home is asking the Village of Saukville to amend its zoning code to allow it to have a crematory in the industrial park.

The Plan Commission recently recommended the change be approved by the Village Board, which will hold a public hearing and could take action on the request at its Tuesday, April 18, meeting.

Kyle Feerick, who with his father owns and operates the funeral home, said in a petition to the village that his family is looking to install a crematory at 407 N. Progress Dr.

The property, owned by John and Marilyn Geissler, includes a building that looks much like a home, “just as funeral homes always have,” Feerick said,

He noted that his family has been searching for years for a property to install a crematory. They have not yet purchased the building, which he said is “the ideal property and facility” for a funeral cremation service business.

“As the demand for simple, dignified and affordable cremation rises, we need to meet that need, which requires a specific property and facility to do so,” Feerick wrote. “This would provide families in Saukville and the greater Ozaukee County area a place where they could have simple, dignified, affordable cremations.”

Public funeral services would not be hosted at the site, Feerick said, but private viewings where family members say goodbye to their loved one before cremation could be held there.

The facility would also provide a place for families to make arrangements with a funeral director and select urns or cremation jewelry, Feerick said.

After cremation, families could pick up ashes at the facility and opt to host a funeral or celebration of life elsewhere, he added.

Feerick said the one-acre property the family is looking at in Saukville  has a 5,000-square-foot building with a 1,500-square-foot warehouse in the back and a 3,500-square-foot office area in the front.

The warehouse area would contain a preparation room and a cooler for safe, secure storage while the front of the building would contain a private viewing room, offices and a room to select any merchandise, he said.

“In this way, everything will take place under one roof and a family’s loved one will never leave our care,” he wrote.

The state-of-the-art cremation chamber is inspected annually, he noted, and is considered a low-emission chamber that is monitored continually.

“This ensures that there are no concerns regarding visible smoke or odor and that we have a consistently clean, energy efficient operation,” Feerick wrote.

Feerick noted that his family has operated funeral services for more than 127 years, noting he is the fifth generation of his family to run the business.

The change in the zoning code is one of two recommended for approval by the Plan Commission at its April 7 meeting.

The other change would amend the zoning code to include a premier economic development district in the Northern Gateway Community Collective Development on the village’s east side.

That designation, if approved, will pave the way for the Village Board to issue two liquor licenses to businesses in the southern portion of the development.

That’s important because the village has issued all the liquor licenses the state allows, and the Gateway project includes a number of entertainment facilities that require liquor licenses to succeed.

The Village Board will hold a public hearing and could take action on that proposal when it meets on Wednesday, April 5.

It would take a two-thirds vote of the Village Board to create a premier economic development district.