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Northeast Times 4A
Thursday, January 22, 2004
In Northwood, cemetery ownership will be put to rest
By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
It looks like a crematory might be coming to Greenwood Cemetery after
all.
In a surprising turn of events, the three parties involved in a civil
lawsuit last week came to a settlement that will give ownership of the
cemetery to Carol Hancock.
Hancock, who along with her husband Ron owns a funeral home at 8018 Roosevelt
Blvd., purchased the decaying 43-acre cemetery from George DeLong in January
2000 for $1.
Hancock wanted to renovate the property, located at 930 Adams Ave. in
Northwood, and build a funeral home, crematory and 60-space parking lot.
In July 2000, against some community opposition, Hancock won a variance
from the Zoning Board of Adjustment by a vote of 4-1. However, a group
of cemetery lot owners and others who have relatives buried at Greenwood
filed a civil lawsuit challenging the sale from DeLong to Hancock.
The sale opponents seemed to have sound legal standing, since DeLong acknowledged
during a 1995 code enforcement action that he did not own the cemetery.
DeLong, the cemetery caretaker, contended that he was merely one of 25,000
lot owners. “I am strictly a volunteer and not even an employee of the
cemetery,” he wrote in a letter to then-Common Pleas Court Judge Russell
Nigro.
As the lawsuit made its way through the court system, Hancock began the
gargantuan task of clearing the overgrowth in the cemetery. The cleanup
ended in March 2003, when she decided she no longer wanted to own the
cemetery, claiming she didn’t want to continue fighting opponents of her
plan.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the suit continued to demand that the sale
be voided, that Hancock and DeLong make an accounting for the money they
spent and that a judge set up a cemetery board of managers. Common Pleas
Court Judge Anne Lazarus, in her earlier rulings, noted that there hadn’t
been a meeting of lot holders or a board of directors for decades. In
June 2003, she appointed lot owner Gloria Boyd and attorney Kevin Lynch
as co-custodians of the cemetery. In the seven months Boyd and Lynch have
been in charge, the condition of the cemetery has improved greatly, though
there’s still plenty of work to be done.
Lazarus scheduled a trial on the lawsuit for Jan. 14-22 in her City Hall
courtroom. But after two days of testimony, the case abruptly ended. All
three sides entered into a settlement that appears to greatly favor Hancock
and DeLong.Hancock will take ownership of the property, allowing her to
possibly build a crematory, funeral home and parking lot. She will also
have two appointees to a three-member board of managers.
DeLong agreed to pay $20,000 into the cemetery fund, but that’s a pittance
compared to what he might have had to spend in additional legal fees.
While he’s angry that he was sued, he gets his wish to be out of the cemetery
business for good. Though the final details of the settlement have to
be worked out and Lazarus has to sign off on it, the losers appear to
be opponents of a crematory. They were counting on Boyd, who led the charge
to have the cemetery placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places,
based on the belief that Benjamin Rush — a signer of the Declaration of
Independence — lived on the premises in the late 1700s.
Gwen DeLong, George’s wife, has long insisted that Rush never lived there.
Under the settlement, Boyd and the newly formed Friends of Greenwood Cemetery
will have meeting space on the grounds and one member on the three-person
board, but no authority. Boyd was unavailable for comment. “I don’t know
what happened,” said Joe Menkevich, a Castor Avenue resident who opposes
the crematory because he fears declining property values. Mike Torchia,
attorney for DeLong, thinks the settlement is fair.
“Everyone compromised,” he said. “No one got everything, and no one lost
everything.”
Torchia, who works for the Jenkintown law firm of Semanoff, Ormsby, Greenberg
& Torchia, said all three parties in the lawsuit want what’s best
for the cemetery. “It’s not been about the DeLongs, it’s not been about
the Hancocks, it’s been about how to get the cemetery back on its feet,”
he said. The attorney added that he and his client believe Ron and Carol
Hancock have the business wherewithal to turn around the cemetery. Cremations
won’t be starting for a while, if at all. Some neighbors have filed an
appeal to Common Pleas Court, contesting the zoning board decision granting
Carol Hancock a variance to build a crematory.
As part of the settlement, Boyd agreed to withdraw as an appellant.
James Mannion, the attorney for Hancock, said his client would continue
to overhaul the cemetery. “The object is to restore this to be a proud
place for the Northeast,” he said.
Fred Maurer, a community activist and vice president of the Friends of
Tacony Creek Park, said it would be an “abomination” to have a crematory
so close to the entrance gates of the cemetery. “I’ve always thought a
crematorium was a bad deal,” he said.
The Northwood Civic Association was expected to discuss the settlement
at its monthly meeting this past Tuesday. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com
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