LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A proposed new cemetery for Louisville's less fortunate is moving forward.
A committee approved the proposal, on the condition that Louisville Parks and Recreation consider its suggestions around trees and fencing.
A proposal filed in September calls for using nearly 38 acres of city-owned land on St. Anthony Church Road near Pleasure Ridge Park for the project, which would also include an access road and open-air pavilion.
The city and Jefferson County Coroner oversee burials of homeless people and those without immediate family, but Catholic Charities recently begun administering the program under a contract with the coroner’s office. The lone pauper cemetery, Meadow View Cemetery near Dixie Highway and the Gene Snyder Freeway, is nearing capacity.
Other public sites — like River Valley Cemetery on Cane Run Road and Manslick Cemetery on Manslick Road — also have no more room for burials, according to Louisville Parks and Recreation, which manages them.
Not everyone is on board with the idea, and Amy Holton Stewart, the Metro Council member who represents the area where the new cemetery would go, shared concerns from the residents in her district.
"I'm also afraid of increased car wrecks and deer being hit," Stewart said. "Another concern was if you intend to build a fence that prohibits the flow of wildlife in this area, it pushes them out, and doesn't allow them to flow back in."
Other residents are concerned about decreased property values for nearby homes.
The cemetery would accommodate up to 5,800 grave sites.
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