After resident uproar, Mount Prospect funeral home withdraws crematory plan

A controversial proposal for a crematory at a Mount Prospect funeral home has been withdrawn in the wake of objections from the business' neighbors and hundreds of village residents.

Tom Suh, owner and president of Matz Mount Prospect Funeral Chapel, sent officials a letter Friday confirming his intention to drop the proposal, which required a conditional use permit from the village to move forward.

The letter arrived a day after residents packed a meeting of the village's planning and zoning commission to oppose the plan for the business at 404-410 E. Rand Road. The commission ended the session by recommending that the village board deny Matz's request.

The village staff also recommended against the proposal, saying it would add a source of pollution not suitable for a mostly residential area. The village received 27 written statements, seven phone calls, a paper petition with 21 signatures, an online petition with more than 600 signatures and another petition with 444 signatures opposing the plan.

The funeral home, which has operated since 1972 but has been under new management since 2021, had planned to install one cremation chamber in a space used as an attached garage. It would have enabled the funeral home to conduct two to four cremations during a typical eight-hour work day.

The business said the chamber would meet Illinois Environmental Protection emission standards, and that even if it ran continuously throughout the year, it would fall short of emission limits.

"The most cremations that ever would occur in a given week would be five," Matz attorney Elliott Wiczer said.

Among the residents objecting was Yuri Salnikov, who lives within 130 feet of the funeral home. Salnikov raised concern about the emission of mercury vapors and the impact on young children, pregnant women and older people.

"Cremation inevitably releases significant levels of various pollutants into the air," he said. "It is important to know that mercury vapors from the cremation are not regulated. Therefore, no matter what technology is installed and what promises are made by the petitioner, there is no legal obligation for them to control the emissions from the crematorium."