Residents oppose cemetery expansion

By Noah Grand
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
[email protected]

  Daily Bruin File Photo

Service Corporation International plans of tripling the capacity
of the Pierce Brothers cemetery by building an 18-foot-high crypt
have upset Westwood residents and families of the individuals
buried there.

Several Westwood homeowners are fighting a corporate plan to
house thousands of corpses within feet of their property.

Service Corporation International owns the Pierce Brothers
cemetery on 1218 Glendon Ave., home to the graves of several
notables, including Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and Walter
Matthau. The company recently submitted a proposal to build an
18-foot-high crypt, tripling the cemetery’s capacity to
nearly 3,000.

Neighbors said SCI is ignoring decency and the law in their
attempt to expand the graveyard. They are joined in their
opposition by the families of some of the individuals interned
there.

“At best, this is a vulgar display of raw greed,”
Charles Matthau, Walter’s son, said in a letter. “At
worst it is sacrilegious.”

A secretary at SCI contacted on July 19 said no one would be
available to comment on the situation before July 22. In an earlier
statement, SCI said it has contacted Westwood homeowners to assure
that “construction will have no adverse impact on the
surrounding area.”

West Los Angeles zoning regulations state a mausoleum cannot be
built within 300 feet of residential property, but SCI is asking
the City Planner for a waiver to build all the way to property
lines as a “public benefit project.”

The City Planning department may make a final decision on July
25.

“They expect to compromise somewhere between the
outrageous and the law,” said Lily Young, who lives next to
the cemetery.

City planner Jon Foreman recommended that SCI build only the
smaller of two proposed mausoleums, which would hold 475
bodies.

Young said she would not be surprised if the corporation was
given everything it wanted because of its superior financial
resources.

On its Web site, the Texas-based SCI describes itself as
“the largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in
North America.” The company had revenue of $2.5 billion in
2001.

Charles Matthau said he paid $175,000 to bury his father in the
small Westwood cemetery and he thinks this plan goes over the
line.

“Now, we understand that they are not content simply to
gouge the grieving families,” Charles said. “They are
attempting to turn the place into a large scale, K-mart/amusement
park.”

Lila Rioth “”mdash; another cemetery neighbor who is also a board
member of the Westwood Homeowners Association “”mdash; said SCI is
using its corporate muscle to gain special treatment.

“When I work as an architect, my residential clients are
not allowed to do this,” Rioth said.

Residents have tried to get City Councilman Jack Weiss, whose
Fifth District includes Westwood, to fight against the
cemetery’s expansion.

On April 15, Weiss sent a letter to Foreman saying the proposed
structure is too large for the area and neglects landscape buffer
zones.

But now Weiss favors Foreman’s recommendation for limited
expansion, according to spokeswoman Lisa Hansen.

“They did get (Weiss’s) approval for a building but
not for everything, which was a victory for the community,”
Hansen said.

Rioth said she expected the councilman’s support in
fighting against expansion and maintaining current zoning laws.

As a condition for building, Weiss wants SCI to build a wall
between the graveyard and neighbors’ homes.

Neighbors can currently look into the cemetery from their
backyards. They asked for the cemetery’s previous owners to
build a wall 50 years ago, but it has never been built.

“Nobody ever said anything for years and years because we
all lived with mutual respect,” said neighbor Tammy Hoffs.
“But now we have these Texas guys who live with the bottom
line.”