Towns would care for abandoned cemeteries listed in land use plans

A town would protect and care indefinitely for an abandoned cemetery listed in its land use plan. The site must contain human burials, have no more than 10% of its burials after 1971, and be owned by neither a public agency nor a religious group. The town could use its preservation trust fund. If it has no such fund or chooses not to use it, it could use another lawful funding source. The town could not add surcharges or fees for this care. If enacted, the bill would take effect immediately. The duty would cover sites already listed then and sites listed later.

Town land use plans would show abandoned cemetery locations. An adopted official map would settle the locations it shows. These rules cover burial sites owned by neither a public agency nor a religious group, with no more than 10% of burials after 1971. A town may adopt an official map; it is not required to do so. An official map would settle a cemetery's location even when no grave markers remain. These rules would take effect immediately if enacted.

Towns that require site plan reviews would add rules for identifying abandoned cemeteries. The required identification rules apply to towns that review site plans. They cover burial sites owned by neither a public agency nor a religious group, with no more than 10% of burials after 1971. A town could also choose to add cemetery protection rules to ordinances for reviewing site plans or land divisions. These rules would take effect immediately if enacted.

A planning board could require a reserved abandoned cemetery to appear on a developer's plan before approval. This applies to subdivision and site plan applications involving a burial site owned by neither a public agency nor a religious group, with no more than 10% of burials after 1971. The town's master plan or official map must provide for reserving the cemetery within the proposed development. The board could make this request before approving a subdivision or site plan. This authority would take effect immediately if enacted.