Pet cemetery plan near Schaumburg killed

A plan to open a pet cemetery outside Schaumburg has been scrapped.

"The case has been withdrawn," Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals Director Andrew Pryzbylo. "It's over."

Oak Brook-based developer Guy Sorrentino had planned to build a pet cemetery for dogs, cats and birds on a nearly 6-acre lot along Wise Road near Rodenburg Road.

That plan was met with overwhelming opposition from the 50 or so residents who attended last week's public hearing on the matter.

Sorrentino needed Cook County to grant him a special-use permit so he could go forward with the cemetery, which he'd planned to call Pet Dreams.

Last week, county zoning board members had complained that Sorrentino came to the hearing unprepared to answer their questions. He couldn't, for example, answer which governmental agency would oversee the cemetery.

The board gave him until this Wednesday to offer more evidence, including expert testimonials, on why the cemetery would be a good fit for the property.

County officials had said that if Sorrentino provided them additional information before Wednesday, they would schedule another public hearing. Instead Sorrentino and co-developer Alan Scimeca withdrew the proposal, county officials said.

Sorrentino couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

But that property presents a challenge to any would-be developers because apparently the soil is poor. Sorrentino has owned the land for five years and previously wanted to build single-family homes on it.

Christopher Huff, Schaumburg's director of community development, said single-family residences are what the village's comprehensive plan has in store for the lot should it ever be annexed.

Huff was at last week's hearing and told the audience the village also opposed the pet cemetery plan.

"We were concerned about the drainage issues," he said. "We were also concerned that it did not meet the comprehensive plan that the village had prepared."

Schaumburg Township Supervisor Mary Wroblewski also opposed the plan, saying the land floods after every significant rain.

State law requires pets cemeteries to be away from the water supply and to be protected from flooding.

"The people who interred their pets there would not want their animals underwater," Wroblewski said.