Canfield council rezones area for funeral home, crematory

CANFIELD -- City council members rezoned an area on North Broad Street so Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes could move in, although there is some resident concern about having a crematorium in the neighborhood.
The rezoning is at the site of the former North Baptist Church, said city Manager Charles H. Tieche.
Tieche said concerns were how the crematorium torch might affect neighbors. He said funeral home representatives told the council that the torch would be unseen and unheard.
Council members voted unanimously to change the zoning from a special use for schools and churches to residential office.
In other matters, council members:
Voted unanimously to enter a $49,000 contract with Coventry Lighting Inc. of Canfield for 50 street lights along East Main Street from the Green to Hillside Drive, Tieche said.
Passed a resolution in support of the Canfield schools' request for a 6.9-mill, five-year additional operating levy that will appear on the November ballot. The levy would produce about $3 million per year beginning next year.
Had a first reading of three items involving property maintenance. Tieche said the proposed amendments to ordinances would require the city to send one notice per year per violation to property owners who fail to maintain yards and structures. As the ordinances read now, he said, the city is required to send a notice every time an official sees the violation.