OLR Bill Analysis

sSB 547

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF ABANDONED CEMETERIES BY MUNICIPALITIES.

SUMMARY:

This bill allows municipalities, under certain circumstances, to acquire an abandoned cemetery, including ownership of any of its unoccupied lots or grave sites. It specifies notice requirements for such acquisitions and allows the owner of the cemetery, lot, or grave site to object to acquisition.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage

ACQUISITION OF ABANDONED CEMETERIES

The bill allows a municipality to acquire an abandoned cemetery, including ownership of any unoccupied lots or grave sites in it. Under the bill, an abandoned cemetery is one where no burial has occurred during the previous 40 years and in which the lots or graves have not been maintained during the last 10 years except for maintenance by the municipality. A cemetery is also considered abandoned if one burial has occurred in the past 40 years when a permit was issued after the burial and there is one surviving owner of a family plot, if the municipality where the cemetery is located fully complies with the bill's notice requirements and sends the notice to the surviving owner.

The municipality may cause a survey of such cemetery to be completed to ascertain its extent. It must use due diligence to identify any owners of the abandoned cemetery or any its unoccupied lots or grave sites. It must notify the owners of the municipality's intention to acquire the cemetery. If a municipality cannot locate the owners, it must publish notice of its intention to acquire the cemetery in a newspaper having a general circulation in the municipality. The notice must be published for three successive weeks. It must give a basic description of the cemetery, by reference to the municipality's tax maps, and set a date and place where the municipality will hear objections to the acquisition.

Any owner who receives the notice may reassert his or her right of ownership over the cemetery, unoccupied lot, or grave site by sending written notice of his or her objection to the municipality within 14 days after receiving the notice. Any owner who reasserts his or her rights must promptly comply with all municipal ordinances concerning the cemetery, unoccupied lot, or grave site.

If the municipality receives no objection within 15 days after the last date of publication of the notice, title to the cemetery and any unoccupied lots or graves vests in the municipality. The municipality must (1) record a confirmation of the vesting, including a basic description of the cemetery, on the municipality's land records; (2) maintain title to the cemetery and may not transfer the title; and (3) maintain the cemetery's characteristics and make no changes in the use of its land.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Planning and Development Committee

Joint Favorable