Village clears way for crematory in industrial park

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

The Saukville Village Board recently amended its zoning code to allow funeral homes and crematories in its general manufacturing districts.

The board waived the first reading of the ordinance before unanimously approving the change to the zoning code on April 18.

The move paves the way for Shorewood-based Feerick Funeral Home to apply for a conditional use permit to create a crematory in the village’s industrial park.

That application would be reviewed by the Plan Commission, Village Administrator Dawn Wagner said.

Kyle Feerick, who with his father owns and operates the funeral home, told the board that the firm is looking to buy a building at 407 N. Progress Dr. to offer crematory services and operate a crematory there.

Feerick 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 in a March memo to the Plan Commission. “This would provide families in Saukville and the greater Ozaukee County area a place where they could have simple, dignified, affordable cremations.”

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

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 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 would be 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 said that his family has offered funeral services for more than 127 years, noting he is the fifth generation of his family to run the business.