Funeral home may have to close to expand

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Plans to expand Fayetteville’s only funeral home are dangling on the approval of several variances from the city.

One of the variances, which would allow parking in the front of the new building, drew questions from several city planning and zoning commissioners at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Parking lots in the city’s Main Street District, where Mowell Funeral Home is located, are forbidden alongside the street. But the expansion plans were designed so the current location, which is much closer to the street, can continue to operate during construction of the new building, which will be located further toward the rear of the property, Mowell said.

If the plans are changed, Mowell thinks he’ll have to shut his Fayetteville operation down entirely for 18 months.

Commission chairman Myron Coxe asked if a compromise could be reached. He suggested that Mowell move its current building to a new location first and then operate from there until the new facility is complete.

The problem, said Mowell, is that not all of the current building can be moved.

The only other option for the funeral home is to use its facility in Peachtree City for more funerals, but it can’t handle that capacity, Mowell said.

Mowell also pointed out that the current location is so close to Jeff Davis Drive that it causes noise problems when people enter services late.

Commissioner Sarah Murphy said she felt the presence of the existing building created a hardship for Mowell.

Commissioner Kevin Bittinger disagreed.

“I don’t see a compelling reason to go against the ordinance,” Bittinger said.

It was also argued that several other businesses along Jeff Davis Drive have been allowed to have parking in the front. But commissioner Allan Feldman said those variances were limited to banks which have different security issues that necessitate having parking alongside the street.

Feldman added that he didn’t want to see Mowell shut his business down to accommodate the expansion project, “but there are other contingencies.”

The commission will likely vote on the variances at its May 25 meeting.