Arlington Heights funeral home's fate to be decided on Monday

Arlington Heights is prepping for the possibility of another marathon village board meeting Monday as trustees could give final approval to a controversial funeral home proposal.

At the preliminary vote, which took place after midnight on July 21, Trustee John Scaletta was the sole dissenter against construction of a new Lauterberg & Oehler Funeral Home at the corner of Euclid and Waterman streets.

But nearby residents who oppose the plan still hold out hope that other trustees will change their minds.

"We are quite frankly concerned and puzzled to why the board voted this way," said resident Kris Solger.

She and other opponents think that, as a commercial entity, a funeral home shouldn't be located so close to homes. They assert the move could lead to other commercial businesses nearby. Solger said if some residents knew a funeral home was on the horizon, they would never have bought homes in the area.

The night of the preliminary vote, 28 residents spoke out on the proposal, both for and against it.

The plan is for the funeral home to relocate to a new facility from a 51-year-old building off Northwest Highway. Jim Murray, who's run the business for decades, said he hoped to extend his family's long legacy in Arlington Heights, "where I've worked my entire professional life."

Despite only one no vote, board members clearly struggled with their decision. Village President Arlene Mulder called it one of the most difficult matters ever to come before the board, and she said Murray's solid reputation was the reason she voted in favor of construction.

Service Corporation International, which owns both the funeral home and Memory Garden, the cemetery adjacent to the proposed new funeral home site on Euclid, contends it's had difficulty developing its land.

But opponents have cited a section of the village code stating that open spaces like parks and cemeteries are restricted in their use. They argue allowing the home would be a contradiction of that code.

Village deputy planning director William Enright, however, said the code gives the board full power to lift that restriction.

"The board has the authority to grant land-use variations to allow property to be used in the manner the petitioner has sought," he said.

There's also the lingering concerns about having cremation and embalming facilities on site. Funeral home officials say that was never part of their proposal. But the residents wanted the peace of mind the village board could give by adding a stipulation prohibiting cremation facilities, which trustees granted.

If approved, embalming would take place at the funeral home, but Murray said there won't be a separate embalming center that would serve other area funeral homes.

"We never intended to do that," he said.

Solger said she understands from a business perspective why owners want to build the new funeral home. She'd just prefer it to be in the middle of the property, not on the northwest edge near houses.

While cemetery officials said they've tweaked their plans using residents' input, some neighbors don't feel that's enough. Jim Grossman feels the village board should be more responsive to him and other taxpayers.

"It seems to be me," he said, "that we should be carrying a little bit more weight."

Monday's village board meeting begins at 8 p.m. at Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road.