Residents in Montgomery County neighborhood push back against turning home into crematorium

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - The idea of turning a house into a crematorium in a Montgomery County neighborhood is getting major push back from some people who live nearby.

Bob DeVol, who has operated the long-standing De Vol Funeral Home located on East Deer Park Drive, submitted an application to the City of Gaithersburg requesting to turn an adjacent vacant home that he purchased, into a crematorium.

Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather

The facility would continue to look like a house, according to attorney Scott Wallace who is representing the funeral home, with the front being used as a parlor. 

“The concern is that people don’t want to live near where bodies are being burnt,” said Rob Bindeman, whose family has owned and managed affordable rental properties in Gaithersburg for 40 years, including one across from DeVol.

Bindeman said that a crematorium should be in an industrial business district rather than being built in a residential neighborhood.

“It doesn’t conform to the neighborhood it doesn’t enhance the neighborhood,” said Bindeman. 

FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan also spoke with DeVol and his attorneys over the phone Thursday asking them about the potential impact of an incinerator on air quality and if the group has engaged the community, regarding their plans.

“No toxic or harmful air emissions will be emitted from the chimney,” explained Carol Lynn Green, with the Environmental Compliance Counsel for National Funeral Directors Association.

“I would never bring anything into my business that isn’t safe either for the community, my employees and myself,” said DeVol.

“These services that we are trying to add to our business is because the communities that we serve is asking for that.”

According to City of Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman, crematoria tend to be in industrial zones or are rarely around residential areas minus a few exceptions. 

If approved, DeVol would be the second funeral home in all of Montgomery County to have a crematorium on its property.

Robert A. Pumphrey Funeral Homes in Bethesda so far, is the only one.

FOX 5 also checked in with Everly-Wheatley Funerals and Cremation in Alexandria, Virginia. 

They too have a crematorium on their site which is located within a residential area but can only provide cremation services during certain times and days, according to a representative.

“If someone says, ‘Do you want to live next to a crematorium?’ Most people will say, ‘No,” said Ashman, who wants residents to understand that the city has not taken any position on the matter yet.

“I understand people’s reluctance and I think it’s a very human thing but I think some of the push back is overblown.”

Ashman said that while this is only a proposal, the city is legally obligated to look at it and show support for small business owners. 

He said the city is planning to take a vote on whether or not to approve the application on October 5.