Crematorium planned for Pike

Posted 9/30/09

A crematorium, having a section for humans and one for pets, has been approved as a land development project by Milford Township.

Pyre, a company owned by Kevin Stroyan and Chris Brighton, …

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Crematorium planned for Pike

Posted

A crematorium, having a section for humans and one for pets, has been approved as a land development project by Milford Township.

Pyre, a company owned by Kevin Stroyan and Chris Brighton, submitted the plan at a regular township meeting on March 21. Stroyan owns Stroyan Funeral Home in Milford. The approval came after a public hearing was held on the matter.

Stroyan said that Pyre, which is the umbrella corporate entity, has two registered subsidiaries, MacLennan Hall and Tyler’s Treasure Pet crematorium. Mac-Lennan will handle human remains and Tyler will handle pets.

He said that Pyre will start with one crematorium for human remains and one for animals. By the third year of operation, he would install a second incinerator for human remains, depending on the need. The facilities would serve a regional clientele of funeral directors and would market the pet crematorium to veterinary professionals.

The location of the project is on Route 6, less than a mile west of Milford across the road from the Sherelyn Motel, which has been closed for 15 years.

Opposed to the project was Bill Borner, his wife Lois and son Ed. The Borners will be neighbors of the crematorium, living about 330 yards away on Route 6.

“There is no mention of a crematorium in the township zoning laws,” Bill Borner said. “The planning commission, on the advice of its attorney Douglas Jacobs, has ruled that it should be listed with an undertaking establishment falling under the category of a permitted use. Permitted uses do not require a public hearing. According to the township law, such a circumstance should be deemed a conditional use requiring a public hearing.”

Borner said the township is not following its own rules since a passage in the law states that in an instance where a facility cannot be classified, it should be deemed a conditional use. His chief objection, however, was that the facility will emit harmful emissions, things like heavy metals, cadmium and mercury among others.

Stroyan said that the industry has newer operating measures, including burning temperatures lower than the 1,800 degrees now required by the state that can reduce emissions. “I will abide by all regulations. My business is too valuable to me to be adding a component that will be a problem with the public.

I have been in business too long.”

Stroyan has owned his funeral parlor since 1980.

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