TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Section 21.52.211, Table 32-1 of Chapter 21.32, Table 33-2 of Chapter 21.33, Table 34-1 of Chapter 21.34; and by adding Section 21.15.1795, related to cemeteries, mortuaries and crematoriums, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On February 19, 2013, the Long Beach City Council adopted a nine-month moratorium prohibiting any new or expansion of all mortuaries, crematoriums or cemeteries to allow time to review existing City regulations and formulate any suggested revisions or refinements.
Since that time, staff has conducted research into current regulations of these types of businesses, commissioned a health risk assessment of crematorium operations by an environmental consulting firm, and developed a set of suggested recommendations.
To address Council and community concerns, staff studied all related business activities to understand issues pertaining to all funeral and burial industries currently located in Long Beach. There are currently four cemeteries and eight mortuaries in Long Beach. A map of these locations is attached as Exhibit A.
Two of the existing mortuaries provide cremation services onsite, and the remaining facilities provide cremation services through contracts with locations within Southern California, but outside of Long Beach. Staff also contacted a number of other communities to get a sense of the state of current regulations for these types of businesses.
A community meeting was held on July 11, 2013, to discuss possible regulations. At that meeting, approximately 45 people discussed the suggested recommendations and asked questions about moratoriums in general, the process to impose new regulations on these specific businesses, and implications of the specific suggested recommendations.
On August 1, 2013, a study session was held on this topic by the Planning Commission. On September 5, 2013, the Planning Commission made a reco...
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