Grandview Cemetery Mausoleum to Expand

Grandview Cemetery was given permission to build an addition onto one of three mausoleums on the northwest corner of the property on Walbert Avenue in South Whitehall.

The South Whitehall Township Zoning Hearing Board voted unanimously at a recent hearing to allow owner Stonemor Pennsylvania LLC to add 2,281 square feet west of the building, nearly doubling the 2,607 square-foot building.

The 55-acre cemetery, built in 1920 at 2735 Walbert Avenue, is a non-conforming use in the area, which is zoned for medium-density residential use. Stonemor bought Grandview Cemetery in 2005.

The additional space will allow the cemetery to add 408 more interments in the mausoleum, including space for 288 caskets and 120 cremations, according to Paul Mancino, who handles Stonemor's regional maintenance and development.

Grandview has continued to grow over the years. In 1981, there were about 15,000 burials underground and 400 interments in the three mausoleums, Mancino said. Those numbers are about double today, with about 30,000 burials underground and about 1,200 in the mausoleums, he said.

The cemetery has the potential to house 52,000 interments underground, he said.

"Why do you need to build another mausoleum?," his attorney Erich Shock asked during the hearing.

"Well, people today like choices. It's kind of more glorious than going in the ground. It's high, it's dry, preserves the body better, and it's affordable," Mancino said. "A lot of people thought years ago mausoleums were for the wealthy."

Mancino said about a third of the future burial spots in the proposed addition are already sold to South Whitehall Township residents.

"We need to build it," he said.

"Or return the reservations," Schock said.

Stonemor operates nearly 300 cemeteries, including mausoleums, in 26 states, Mancino said.

The proposed brick-and-granite mausoleum is not near any property lines and exceeds setbacks in residential zones and those that allow cemeteries, Schock said.