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Tiverton residents speak out against proposed crematorium


A rendering of a proposed crematorium that would be built at 730 Main Rd. in Tiverton, which were presented by Sakonnet Partners LLC at a Tiverton Planning Board meeting in February.  (Sakonnet Partners LLC)
A rendering of a proposed crematorium that would be built at 730 Main Rd. in Tiverton, which were presented by Sakonnet Partners LLC at a Tiverton Planning Board meeting in February. (Sakonnet Partners LLC)
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Tiverton residents are speaking out against a proposed crematorium that could be built on the town's Main Road.

Sakonnet Partners LLC. submitted a proposal to the town's planning board to build a a 2,960 square-foot crematory at 730 Main Rd. near both residential and commercial properties.

"This doesn't belong in our town," Ryan LePage, the organizer of Tiverton Residents Against Crematorium said. "It's not something that provides a very welcoming tone."

The group Tiverton Residents Against Crematorium" has more than 300 members opposing the proposal.

"The crematorium I have a problem with because of the air quality, the health of people, the health of my grandson," neighboring property owner Robert Fazzina said.

Fazzina said his 6-month-old grandson's window is just 60 feet from the proposed crematory.

"We have neighbors with grandchildren, we have elderly neighbors that aren't going to be able to handle that kind of smoke," he said. "Even if there's no smoke, the emissions that come off that machine that emit into the air."

Crematory emissions are not regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"How do you just drop something like that in the front yard of my home without studies?" Fazzina said.

Funeral Director Jonathan Ferriera hasn't returned NBC 10's request for comment.

He spoke on behalf of Sakonnet Partners LLC. before the town's planning board earlier this month.

"If there were visible emissions and odors that would make us look bad and be bad for business, the idea that we're investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Tiverton to make ourselves look bad doesn't carry any weight," he said.

He says the average person standing in the parking lot wouldn't be able to tell the crematory is operating.

"Part of our goal with the building is to have it as unobtrusive as possible, people should drive by and not take a second look, not realize it is a crematorium," Ferriera said.

Neighbors said they're also concerned about the building's parking and lighting.

They think crematories should only be built in cemeteries or industrial areas.

"I'm not opposed to crematoriums in general," LePage said. "We have to care for our dead, but not at the expense of the living."

The Planning Board is set to revisit the issue at their March 7 meeting but because the land is zoned as a commercial property, it's within the property owners' right to build a crematorium.

LePage said he's prepared the take the issue to court if necessary, even going so far as to start a GoFundMe to pay for legal representation.

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