by Kim Kilpatrick
December 6, 2011 6:02 PM
Last week our Extra Space Storage writer, Winnie Hsui, wrote that the Davis Funeral Home on the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean wanted to open a crematorium in the Fortress Self Storage Warehouse. There isn't a crematorium on the island and if anyone wanted to cremate deceased family members they had to do so in Puerto Rico.
The Virgin Island Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) had scheduled a hearing for today but Vernill Roberts, the DPNR Environmental Engineer, said that the hearing was delayed indefinitely.
Phillip Davis, founder and president of the Davis Funeral Home, wants to gather more information so that he can be better prepared for the hearing. There has been an overwhelming response of concerned people and Davis wants to collect answers to the concerns that were expressed.
The DPNR had contacted all neighbors and businesses within 1,000 feet of the property about their right to speak at the hearing.
Diana Brown expressed concern about having the crematorium in the storage facility. She operates the dance studio Caribbean Ritual Dancers that has four dance teachers and 75 dance students ages 3 and up.
Brown feels that the self storage facility isn't a good location for a crematorium. She said that it has become a 'village' of small businesses. There are two salons, a bridal boutique, a bakery, and other small businesses that have a business office in the storage facility.
Many parents of Brown's patrons called the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. The dance classes at Brown's studio start at 7:00 p.m. and that is the same time that the Davis Funeral Home planned on doing the cremations. Other businesses had also called to express concern but their daytime business hours would not be impacted by nightly cremations.
The 30-ton chamber would occupy two storage units in the Fortress Self Storage most southern building. Roberts explained the propane fired chamber that would heat up to at least 1,800 degrees met existing air pollution regulations according to the regulations that they have on the island. According to the research Roberts conducted, he said that having a crematorium at the self storage facility would be legal.
Sources Used:
"Crematorium hearing delayed." Virgin Island Daily News; 6 December 2011.
Fortress Self Storage.