Chapter 953: Evergreen Cemetery

Editor’s note: Prices and payments covering the sale of lots and fees for interments within the Municipal Cemetery are set by the Board of Cemetery Trustees pursuant to Ohio R.C. 759.13 and 759.23. Please consult the Department of Finance for information concerning current costs and fees.

Cross references

  • Cemetery Commission - see ADM. Ch. 142
  • Burials may be prohibited - see Ohio R.C. 759.05
  • Management and control - see Ohio R.C. 759.20
  • Union cemeteries - see Ohio R.C. 759.27 et seq.
  • Burial permits - see Ohio R.C. 3705.24 et seq.
  • Burial of indigent persons - see Ohio R.C. 5113.15
  • Malicious damage to tombstone or cemetery property - see GEN. OFF. 541.04, 541.07

953.01   Definitions

  1. (a) “Village” shall mean the Village of Chagrin Falls, its employees, Cemetery Commission Members and duly authorized representatives.

  2. (b) “Owner” shall mean the owner of rights of interment or inurnment.

  3. (c) “Interment” shall mean burial of the remains of a deceased human being.

  4. (d) “Disinterment” shall mean the removal of the remains of a deceased human being from a grave.

  5. (e) “Inurnment” shall mean the burial or placement of cremated human remains in a grave.

  6. (f) “Dis-inurnment” shall mean the removal of cremated remains from a grave.

  7. (g) “Grave” means a space of ground in the Cemetery used, or intended to be used, for burial.

  8. (h) “Memorial or Monument” shall mean any marker placed upon any grave for the purpose of identification or in memory of the interred.

  9. (i) “Sexton” shall mean the person, designated by the Chief Administrative Officer, charged with the maintenance and care of the cemeteries of the Village of Chagrin Falls.

  10. (j) “Vault” shall mean an outside burial container as specified by the Cemetery to encase human or cremated remains.

  11. (k) “Contractor” shall mean any person, firm or corporation or anyone other than an employee of the Village engaged in placing erecting or repairing any memorial or monument and performing any work on the Cemetery grounds.
    (Ord. 2016-77. Passed 12-12-16.)

953.02   General

  1. (a) The Village shall take reasonable responsible precaution to protect owners and the property rights of owners within the Cemetery from loss or damage but it distinctly disclaims all responsibility for loss or damage from causes beyond its reasonable control. The Village is not and shall not be liable for damage caused by elements, acts of God, common enemy, thieves, vandals, strikers, mischief makers, explosions, unavoidable accidents, invasion, insurrections, riots, terrorism, or orders of any Military or civil authority, whether the damage be direct or collateral.

  2. (b) The Village reserves the right to correct any errors that may be made by it either in making interments, dis-interments, inurnments, dis- inurnments or removals, or in the inscriptions, transfer, or conveyance and substituting and conveying in lieu thereof other interment or inurnment rights of equal value and similar location as far as possible, or as may be selected by the Village or, at the sole discretion of the Village, by refunding the amount of money paid on account of any purchase of a grave or burial vault. In the event such error shall involve the interment or inurnment of the remains of any person in such property, the Village reserves and shall have the right to remove and transfer such remains so interred to such other property of equal value and similar location as may be substituted and conveyed in lieu thereof. The Cemetery shall also have the right to correct any errors made by allowing the placement of an improper inscription, including an incorrect name or date on the memorial or monument. Upon correction no further liability shall exist against the Village.

  3. (c) The right to enlarge, reduce, replant or change the boundaries or grading of the Cemetery or of a grave, from time to time, including the right to modify or change the locations of or any part thereof or remove or re-grade walks or paths, is hereby expressly reserved by the Village. The Village reserves to itself and to those acting on behalf or permitted by the Village the right to lay, maintain and operate, or alter or change pipe lines or gutters for sprinkling systems, drainage, lakes etc., not sold to individual owners, for Cemetery purposes, including the interring and preparing for interment of human remains, or for anything necessary, incidental or convenient thereto. The Village reserves to itself and to those lawfully entitled thereto and those permitted by the Village to do so, a perpetual right of ingress and egress over graves for the purpose of passage to and from other graves.
    (Ord. 2016-77. Passed 12-12-16.)

953.03   Purchase of graves

Evergreen Hill Cemetery is provided for the residents of the Village of Chagrin Falls. All sales or purchases of graves and crypts must be made through the office of the Cemetery Clerk for purpose of record. All purchases of graves and crypts must be purchased from the Village at the prevailing rate.

  1. (a) A nontransferable Right to Bury form will be issued by the Village to each purchaser of a grave. For a deceased resident who has a Trust, the Trust is limited to the purchase of one grave only.

  2. (b) A maximum of four graves may be purchased, per family, by Village residents only. The cost of a 4′×12′ full size grave that allows three cremation urns or one casket & two cremation urns is $1,500.00. The cost of a 4′×12′ full size grave in sections that allow three cremation urns only shall cost $700.

  3. (c) Graves in Section 3-C are for cremations only, and cost $3,000.00 each for residents and are limited to three cremation urns.

  4. (d) Village residents may not purchase graves for a non-resident.

  5. (e) In ground graves are not offered to non-residents; however, exceptions may be made at the discretion of the Cemetery Commission upon receipt of a written request from a non-resident. When an exception is made, a maximum of two graves may be purchased per family. The cost to a non-resident for a 4′×12′ full size grave is $2,350.00.

  6. (f) The purchase of a Right to Bury for a grave site is a final sale and nonexchangeable. It cannot, for any reason, be transferred, exchanged, or switched. Only the Village may repurchase unused graves at a rate of 75% of the current sales price, at the discretion of the Village.

  7. (g) Graves may be transferred by will or the laws of Ohio if intestate, and a new deed will be issued by the Cemetery Clerk for purpose of record. No other transfers shall be permitted, except resale to the Village of Chagrin Falls pursuant to Subsection 953.03(g).
    (Ord. 2023-01. Passed 1-9-23.)

953.031   Purchase of columbarium niches

  1. (a) The purchase of a Right to Bury for a niche is a final sale and nonexchangeable. It cannot, for any reason, be transferred, exchanged, or assigned. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the Village may repurchase a niche at 75% of the current resident price, at the discretion of the Board of Cemetery Trustees.

  2. (b) No Village resident may purchase a niche for a non-resident.

  3. (c) The sale of a niche to a nonresident will be considered on a case-by-case basis upon receipt of a written request.

  4. (d) The cost of a memorial bench is $7,500, which includes the foundation and engraving.

  5. (e) Niche prices: Two cremains may be interred in each niche.

      Resident Non-Resident
    One Niche    
    Tier A $1,600.00 $2,400.00
    Tier B $1,500.00 $2,300.00
    Tier C $1,400.00 $2,200.00
    Tier D $1,300.00 $2,100.00
    Engraving    
    One Name $400.00 $400.00
    Two Names $575.00 $575.00

  6. (f) NICHE BURIAL PROCEDURES & COSTS (OPENING & CLOSING):

  7. (g) The cost for a niche interment before 3:00 pm on a weekday is $400.00 and $450.00 after 3:00 pm and on a Saturday.

  8. (h) Payment is due upon the scheduling of a burial. Interments shall not be made until full payment is made.

  9. (i) The Sexton shall request the family to produce their Right to Bury form. In the absence of a Right to Bury form the family shall sign an affidavit stating that they are the sole beneficiary of the burial site.

  10. (j) There shall be no burials on Sundays nor legal holidays.

  11. (k) The Village must receive 12-hour notice (one business day) for an interment. There will be no burials after 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Saturdays.

  12. (l) The niche is 12″ long, 12″ wide, and 12″ high. For two urns, each one must measure less than 5″ wide, 5″ long, and 11″ tall. For one urn, it shall measure 11″ long, 11″ wide, and 11″ tall or less.

  13. (m) Engraving of the face plate is $400.00 for one name and $575.00 for two names. All engraving is done through the Village. Only the name and date of birth & death are permitted on the face plate.

  14. (n) All interments will be done by Village employees.

  15. (o) Human remains only may be interred. No objects are permitted other than an urn.

  16. (p) The cost for a disinterment is $375.00 plus the cost of replacing the face plate.
    (Ord. 2023-01. Passed 1-9-23.)

953.04   Cemetery rules and regulations

In order to provide for orderly use of the cemeteries of the Village of Chagrin Falls and to assure equitable treatment for all users of the cemeteries, the Chief Administrative Officer is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the Charter and Codified Ordinances, as may be necessary for the safe, economical, and efficient management and protection of the Village’s cemeteries. Such regulations shall have the same validity as an ordinance, and a current version shall be on file in the office of the Chief Administrative Officer.

Burial procedures

  1. (a) The owner shall produce their Right to Bury form.

  2. (b) There will be no burials on Sundays or Village holidays as listed in Codified Ordinance Section 149.10.

  3. (c) The Village must receive 48 hour notice (two business days) for burials. There will be no burials after 12:00 noon on Saturdays.

  4. (d) Payment is due upon the scheduling of the burial.

  5. (e) Only one adult casket may be buried in a grave. An infant casket or two cremation urns may be buried on top of an adult casket-filled grave; or three cremation urns may be buried in an unused full size grave.

  6. (f) The west end of the grave is the ‘head’ end; the husband is buried in the south grave and the wife in the north grave of their two graves unless otherwise approved by the Sexton. In the case of domestic partners and marriages of the same sex, the grave owners shall designate which spouse or partner will be buried in each grave.

  7. (g) No burial may be made closer than three (3) feet to an existing large family monument in order to protect the stability of the monument.

  8. (h) A concrete or steel vault is required with all burials except cremations which must be in a marble or metal urn approved by the Sexton.

  9. (i) All burials (caskets and cremation urns) shall be performed by Village employees.

  10. (j) Human remains only may be buried in the cemetery. No objects are permitted other than caskets, vaults, and urns.

  11. (k) The Sexton will seed graves when weather permits.
    (Ord. 2017-14. Passed 3-13-17.)

953.05   Grave markers

  1. (a) No burial shall be made in a Village owned cemetery without provision being made for the permanent marking of the grave or crypt.

  2. (b) All grave markers must have prior approval of the Sexton. Large monuments which cover an entire grave are not permitted.

  3. (c) All grave markers must be placed on a concrete foundation installed by the Village at the cost listed in section 953.16(c).

  4. (d) Grave markers are to be placed at the west end of the grave site, the head of the grave. Exceptions, due to individual circumstances, will be determined by the Sexton.

  5. (e) Only one grave marker, a maximum of 30″ wide for a single grave and a maximum of 60″ wide for two adjoining graves, is permitted on a grave. A second marker, not exceeding 24″×12″ in size, may be placed flush with the ground in front of the grave marker on a full size grave.

  6. (f) Any grave marker greater than 36″ in height must have prior approval of the Sexton and Cemetery Commission.

  7. (g) All bench requests must be approved by the Sexton and Cemetery Commission. Plans and design drawings from a monument company are required. All benches must be made of granite and they must have all connections securely pinned.

  8. (h) Field stones or rocks cannot be used as grave markers.

  9. (i) Temporary grave markers, such as those used by Funeral Directors, will be removed by Village employees and discarded after six (6) months.

  10. (j) Foundation orders for grave markers will not be accepted before April 15th or after September 30th.

  11. (k) Grave markers in historic sections 1-10 shall be of a design consistent with the historic nature of the section. All grave markers in these sections must be approved by the Cemetery Commission.
    (Ord. 2017-14. Passed 3-13-17.)

953.06   Authority having jurisdiction

The Chief Administrative Officer shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter and shall designate a Village employee to serve as Cemetery Sexton.
(Ord. 2016-77. Passed 12-12-16.)

953.07   Cemetery service charges

The following costs will be charged by the Cemetery. The Owner is responsible for any and all additional costs that may be charged by Contractors involved in the service.

  1. (a) Burials.

      Weekday Saturday  
    Adult Casket $850.00 $950.00 (per person/burial-transit permit)
    Infant Casket $500.00 $600.00 (per person/burial-transit permit)
    Cremation Urn $450.00 $500.00 (per person/certificate of cremation)

  2. (b) Disinterment.

      Weekday Saturday
    Adult Casket $1,000.00 $1,100.00
    Infant Casket $500.00 $600.00
    Cremation Urn $475.00 $575.00

  3. (c) Grave marker foundation fees. All monuments shall have a concrete foundation built by the cemetery sexton, pursuant to municipal specifications.

    • 2′×12″: $325.00
    • 3′×12″: $375.00
    • 4′×12″: $425.00
    • 5′×12″: $500.00
    • 6′×12″: $550.00

    No charge for 2′×12″ foundation for approved Veterans Administration marker.
    (Ord. 2023-01. Passed 1-9-23.)

953.08   Indigent burial policy

  1. (a) A person requesting indigent burial funds from the Village of Chagrin Falls shall complete and submit the City’s Application for Indigent Burial Funds to the Chief Administrative Officer.

  2. (b) The Chief Administrative Officer shall review the application and determine whether the deceased was a resident of the Village of Chagrin Falls and eligible for benefits. The Chief Administrative Officer’s decision shall be final. Upon request of the Chief Administrative Officer, the applicant shall present proof of the deceased’s residency, such as a driver’s license, utility bills, copy of income tax returns, voter registration, or other documents or records which suggest residency in the Village of Chagrin Falls.

  3. (c) If the deceased did not have assets exceeding the maximum amount approved for cremation of an indigent resident at the time of death, the Village of Chagrin Falls shall pay an amount not to exceed the maximum for cremation services to a licensed funeral home chosen by the Chief Administrative Officer or which is in possession of the deceased’s remains. Payment shall be made directly to the funeral home. The amount paid shall be reduced by the amount of any Veteran’s Administration or Social Security burial benefits for which the deceased is eligible or the value of the assets owned by the decedent at the time of death.

  4. (d) If the deceased had assets exceeding the maximum amount approved for cremation of an indigent resident at the time of death, the deceased shall not qualify for indigent burial benefits under this policy.

  5. (e) The applicant shall cooperate with the funeral home and execute all documents necessary to allow the cremation of the deceased’s remains.

  6. (f) A person who claims the body of an indigent for private interment or creation shall not be paid for the cost thereof by the Village of Chagrin Falls.

  7. (g) The amount paid for cremation of an indigent’s remains and the application form for benefits shall be periodically reviewed for compliance with the Ohio Revised Code and the prevailing cost of cremation services. The amount paid for cremation of an indigent resident may be increased by the Chief Administrative Officer without Council approval.

  8. (h) In the event of a conflict of the provisions of this Policy with the sections of the Ohio Revised Code which govern indigent burial by a municipality, the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code shall control.
    (Ord. 2016-77. Passed 12-12-16.)

953.09   Violation of rules and regulations

  1. (a) No person shall violate any rule or regulation adopted and recorded by the Chief Administrative Officer or the Cemetery Commission, with respect to a municipal cemetery under its care and management.

  2. (b) No person shall, without lawful authority, remove, damage or vandalize a tomb, monument or other marker erected to perpetuate the memory of any person or persons, or other property in or around a municipal cemetery.
    (Ord. 2016-77. Passed 12-12-16.)

953.99   Penalty

Whoever violates the provisions of this Chapter shall be guilty of a first degree misdemeanor and fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. Each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
(Ord. 2016-77. Passed 12-12-16.)