Cemetery's new above-ground burials yards away from condo views

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (KABC) -- Rancho Palos Verdes residents are not happy with the new place a local cemetery is now burying the dead.

The residents have been living near the Green Hills Memorial Park cemetery for years. But recently the cemetery started burying people on the top of a mausoleum, right in the view of local residents.

When Matt Geier bought his condo in 2006, he was looking forward to a quiet area with ocean views. Now, on the weekends, he sees burials in progress.

"It's a little disturbing, to say the least," said Geier. "I've been out here before, and I've just been out here watering the plants and such, and they're in the middle of their funerals and they'll look up and they'll see me, and they'll motion for me to go inside."

The Green Hills Memorial Park recently built an above-ground mausoleum where they have burials just feet from the pool.

"When you're in the pool, you could probably do a cannonball and splash the people up there," said Geier.

Geier and his neighbors are furious.

"Our problem isn't with the mourners. They've obviously lost a family member or a friend, that's a terrible thing. We just can't believe that they would decide to build something with rooftop internments right next to a residential zone," said Geier. "In fact, there's a PV municipal code that says they have to be 40 feet away from a residential zone."

"In all honesty, I never envisioned the level of negative response from these neighbors," said Ray Frew, president and CEO of Green Hills Memorial Park. "I stand up there and think it looks beautiful."

Frew says he has done everything above-board, with the blessing of the city, and he can't understand why neighbors are so offended. He says he's taken steps to mitigate the noise, limit funeral hours and even put up screens. But he says neighbors aren't willing to work with him to come up with a solution.

"A demand to make me stop doing funerals altogether in a cemetery, or to move a building that was constructed with full approval of the city that we are governed by, that's not a possibility," said Frew.

Neighbors are going to the city saying they want the people buried there to be moved and the height of the mausoleum to be limited. They say their views are gone and their property values are plummeting.

"One day we could be down there enjoying the pool with some music and a barbecue, and they're trying to have a funeral up there. What would the family members think?" said Geier.

Neighbors are also upset about some cameras that have been installed that face into the condo area.

The next phase of the planning commission meetings is August 12.