A municipal cemetery that offers burial plots at dream prices has presented a bit of a mystery to members of the Elon City Council.
Earlier this week, the town council had a lively discussion about how best to manage the remaining space at Magnolia Cemetery in Elon, where cheap fees have apparently led to a surge in demand for burial plots.
Elon City Administrator Richard Roedner first highlighted this dilemma on Tuesday when he informed city leaders about the decreasing number of unclaimed gravesites at this public cemetery.
“There are currently only about 80 gravesites left in Magnolia Cemetery,” Roedner explained during the council’s last regular meeting that evening. “In the last year we sold about 20 or 25 of them … and unless we want to buy land for a new cemetery, we’re going to run out of space soon.”
The idea of a second municipal cemetery was more or less doomed from the start for the Elon City Council, but members were determined to find a solution to the space shortage that the city manager had brought to their attention.
In his report to the local council, Roedner attributed the lack of space in the cemetery primarily to the “competitive” prices for graves. However, the simple solution of raising prices met with little approval from the local council.
Monti Allison, the city’s interim mayor, warned that rumors of a fee increase could ultimately lead to a rush on the cemetery’s remaining gravesites.
“Those 80 locations will eventually sell,” Allison added, “and if you raise prices, people will start buying them before prices go up.”
Meanwhile, Elon Mayor Emily Sharpe urged the city council to consider restrictions on the purchase of burial plots so that the remaining spaces are not filled so quickly.
“A significant portion of sales last year were to people from out of town because our prices are so good,” she explained. “I think in the future we should limit it to local residents, although I’m also OK with expanding it to employees.”
Much of the council seemed to agree with Sharpe’s proposal to restrict the sale of burial plots to city residents and employees. However, this proposed restriction raised some concerns from Council Member Randy Orwig, who pointed out that there are emigrants from Elon who may want to return home for their final resting place.
“Ultimately, I’m in favor of limiting it to residents,” he acknowledged. “But I would like to find a formality (for former residents who) have lived in Elon for so many years.”
In the end, the council took no formal steps to preserve the cemetery’s vacant lots, but Sharpe nevertheless tasked Roedner with developing a plan for a rate increase that would apply only to out-of-town residents, based on the consensus that emerged from the council’s discussion.
