Neighbors’ objections have failed to bury a plan to expand St. Mary Cemetery in Mokena.
Steve Phister, an attorney for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, told the Mokena Planning Commission last week that St. Mary Church wants to expand the church cemetery by taking over a vacant lot at 11145 Parker St.
The 142-year-old cemetery is almost full, and expansion to the adjoining 1 1/2 acres would provide space for 450 to 500 burial sites, Phister said.
The land would be fenced and landscaped with an interior walkway, and there would be no cemetery entrance on Parker Street, he said.
Because the cemetery is part of the neighborhood, the expansion would not change the area’s character, according to Phister.
But residents such as Dean Beushausen, who lives next door to the vacant land, think the cemetery project would increase traffic and decrease property values.
Another resident, Theresa Allen, a Parker Street resident who lives farther from the property, said she thinks the change would be an improvement.
“That prairie,” she said, “is nothing but a mess.”
Planning Commissioners, citing the value of maintaining green space, voted 6-1 to recommend approving the expansion.
Commissioner April Heide-Kraicik cast the no vote, saying a cemetery next door would detract from the value of adjacent homes.
