Potential neighbors have grave doubts about how cemetery could affect lifestyles

The proposed transformation of a rocky, weed-strewn piece of dirt into a cemetery with a mausoleum and funeral chapel inspires both hope and dread.

A developer thinks a cemetery would yield steady profits, even in a bad economy, because the demand is eternal.

Some irate neighbors fear their property values would drop as the coffin count rises. Others don't wish to be near so many dead.

Early plans call for almost 9,000 burial plots, 3,750 above-ground tombs and 200 niches for cremation urns on 20 acres at Buffalo Drive and Warm Springs Road.

Clark County commissioners last week put off reviewing the project until Feb. 17 to give all sides a chance to discuss their differences.

More than 40 residents have signed a petition decrying the cemetery.

"It's wrong," said Radu Stanciu, who owns a house south of the proposed site. "Not only will the value of the house go down, we have kids."

Stanciu said he doesn't want his two young children seeing funerals and, worse, using the cemetery as a playground.

Because the cemetery is near a high school, it could become a place for teens to hang out, drink and cause trouble, Stanciu said.

Developer William Gayler, the landowner, said he has built large projects in the Las Vegas area for 23 years and often meets resistance from people who oppose anything new in their backyard, whether it's a store or a child-care center.

A cemetery would be a serene, parklike setting that neighbors would forget existed, he said.

"It's a quiet, quiet use," Gayler said. "Once it's there, nobody will even care."

Erik Stern, another resident, disagrees.

Ceremonies would be held at the chapel, drawing traffic to two busy roads, said Stern, who is living in Florida with his wife while she pursues a doctorate.

Stern said he and his wife plan to move back to the house they bought three years ago. If they opt to sell the house, it would be more difficult with a cemetery nearby, he said.

"The creepiness is a factor," Stern said. "I'm sure he (Gayler) could build something that turns a profit without making it so morbid over there, and without damaging the image of the area."

Two appraisers say cemeteries don't diminish property values outright.

Both point to a cemetery near Jones Boulevard and Deer Springs Road that, when built, had no apparent impact on appraised values or home sales.

"They were still selling left and right," said Bill Maness, who has appraised area homes for two decades. "There are certain people it will bother. I think the average person would not be bothered."

Maness said in his reports he never describes a cemetery as having an adverse effect on home values.

"Some people are superstitious and they wouldn't live within a mile from a cemetery," said Marsha Scofield, a 26-year appraiser. "Other people like that it's quiet."

However, one real estate broker argued that although a graveyard might not affect the appraised price, it makes a home less desirable and tougher to sell.

"I don't think anybody likes to be next to a cemetery," said Bette Leal, a Century 21 broker. "Who wants to be close to death?"

Leal said she has seen buyers shy away from houses that had cemeteries nearby. A visual buffer such as a park is needed between a cemetery and homes, she said.

As for traffic, Ned Phillips, a Palm Mortuary spokesman, said a cemetery with a funeral chapel probably would have at least one gathering daily.

"We average more than one a day," Phillips said.

Stern contends he wasn't sufficiently notified about the proposal.

He received a card last month from Clark County saying that a cemetery was going in and that the developer wanted to waive restrictions on building heights and parking, he said.

Residents never got a chance to weigh in on the cemetery itself, just the proposed waivers discussed at an Enterprise Town Advisory Board meeting, Stern said.

In 2005, Gayler had the property rezoned to C-2, which allows a wide array of commercial uses, among them a cemetery.

He submitted an application to the county for a cemetery in November.

Because a cemetery is a permitted use, a public hearing wasn't required on the project itself, just the waivers on height and parking, said county spokeswoman Stacey Welling.

Gayler said driving 20 miles from his Summerlin home to visit his father's grave at Palm Mortuaries on Christmas strengthened his resolve to build a cemetery on the county's west side.

A cemetery is also a recession-proof venture at a time when banks refuse to finance most commercial projects, he said.

"Retail and office are two years away right now with our economy. Cemeteries are a business of perpetuity. People don't quit dying. Death is part of life."

If the project goes forward, work probably won't begin until at least mid-2010, Gayler said.

He has yet to estimate how much it would cost, but he knows it will be in the millions of dollars.

Gayler wouldn't confirm whether he was developing the cemetery for an interested buyer, such as a large mortuary. He said he could hire qualified staff and run the business himself. Early research shows he could earn $5,000 to $10,000 per burial, he said.

But Jessica Henning, a real estate agent and neighborhood advocate, said the developer was wrong about the area lacking a cemetery.

Four major cemeteries lie within 10 miles of the site, Henning said.

The county also approved an enclosed mausoleum in 2007 for land on the other side of Buffalo Drive, just 600 feet from where Gayler wants to build his cemetery, Henning said.

Residents would rather have a retail complex that creates jobs and gives them places to shop than a cemetery with nothing that benefits the living, she said.

The problem with building a cemetery on a whim is that after one body goes into the ground it's irreversible, she said. If the business fails, the owner can't convert it to a strip mall or bowling alley.

It's good that neighbors will sit down with Commissioner Steve Sisolak and the developer, Henning said, because residents have had little say about the project.

"You have a very controversial use and minimal restrictions," Henning said.

At last week's commission meeting, Bill O'Donnell, whose family owns a parcel near the site, asked Sisolak whether the county would consider selling nearby parkland to Gayler so he could build his graveyard in a more remote area.

Sisolak replied that the county was loath to pull acreage from its parkland reserve. He also noted that the cemetery is allowed on the current parcel, limiting his ability to arbitrate.

O'Donnell argued that a cemetery should be planned years in advance to avoid blindsiding homeowners.

Sabrina Lee, 23, was one such owner. A month ago she moved into a house she bought off Buffalo Drive, then learned about the cemetery.

"So a nice little surprise for me," Lee said. "I'm not creeped out by it, but I think most people are creeped out by it. When I go to sell, the property's value will go down."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.