PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners Tuesday disallowed a crematory proposed in the Carlsborg Industrial Park.
Jason Linde of Linde Family Funeral Service in Sequim will continue to store cadavers in a refrigerator inside the storage building at 108-B Industrial Loop and to take them to Kent for cremation.
In about two weeks, he said, he will begin taking them to a building in Marysville where he will install the free-standing crematory he had hoped to use in Carlsborg.
Unlike Clallam County, crematories are permitted in light industrial zones in Snohomish County.
Linde said he may ask Clallam commissioners to designate a zoning category for crematories.
Meanwhile, he said, he is considering appealing the commissioners’ decision to Clallam County Superior Court.
It was the lack of an appropriate zone that led Linde to seek a conditional use permit from county Hearing Examiner Chris Melly last April.
Melly approved the crematory in May, galvanizing Carlsborg residents into forming a citizens group, hiring an attorney and picketing along Carlsborg Road.
Only a few of them, however, attended Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting.
Keep village atmosphere
Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, said the issues of odor and particulate pollution that the group feared would be decided by the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency — as Melly required in his decision.
But Commissioner Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, said he was uncomfortable with passing the final decision to another group.
And Commissioner Mike Chapman of Port Angeles — who ran as an independent in Tuesday’s general election — said that Melly had overlooked language in the county comprehensive plan that requires conditional uses in village centers like Carlsborg not to produce objectionable noise, light or fumes.
“We should respect the needs and views of those making the area their home,” Chapman said, although Linde had promised that the crematory would emit no smoke or odor.
In the end, Tharinger and Chapman voted against the crematory, while Doherty voted for it.
After the meeting, Linde said Chapman had delayed the decision until most people had voted on Tuesday in the general election in which Chapman sought a third term.
Inundating testimony
Tharinger and Chapman — Doherty being absent — said they chose Tuesday for deliberation on the crematory because they were inundated by testimony from four public hearings in mid-October on complying with the Growth Management Act.
The crematory case also required reading three briefs from each of four attorneys arguing the crematory case.
“It was purely a commissioners’ scheduling issue,” Chapman replied to Linde’s allegation, and one of ensuring Doherty could participate.
“I would have preferred it to be last week or two weeks ago.”
Linde won’t ‘kowtow’
Linde also said he would not “kowtow to the wishes of our competitors and just float away.”
Linde said he performs cremations for about $700 formembers of the People’s Memorial Association, a Seattle-based group that offers low-cost after-death services.
Other area funeral services charge $1,500 to $2,700 for cremations, according to hearing examiner testimony.
Linde argued with Tharinger’s contention that a crematory would be more appropriate in a general or heavy industrial zone.
“Who wants to take their loved one out to a heavy industrial park?” he asked.
Moreover, Linde charged that Tharinger had made his decision based on “public fear.”
Crematory critics has said it would release toxic mercury vapors from cadavers’ dental fillings.
One of those critics and a founder of Citizens for Carlsborg, Susanne Severeid, said, “We’re so proud of the Citizens for Carlsborg who stood up for their rights at great cost and personal efforts and courage.
“Thanks to all of you who supported and stood by us in this citizens’ effort.”
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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@ peninsuladailynews.com.
