Pet crematorium may move forward

The Planning Commission on May 23 voted to recommend approval for use of pet crematories in agricultural zone, with several stipulations, as an accessory to a veterinary clinic.

The new vocabulary would allow Heavenly Days Animal Crematory of Rockville to move forward with plans for an animal crematorium on the Urbana site. The Frederick Board of County Commissioners will make the final decision on the change in the next 30 days.

The vet once feared he would have to file for personal bankruptcy and continues to make payments on the two dormant crematoriums on site. He said he is more optimistic that the facility will open in the next year, but is waiting to see how the board will vote.

‘‘We’re at the mercy of the county,” Negola said Wednesday. ‘‘We’re praying it goes through. I just wanted a graceful way for our clients to go.”

‘‘Animal incinerator” was not defined in the county’s zoning ordinance, and Negola’s plans to open the facility last fall were blocked in March when the planning commission did not approve the site plan because commissioners did not know whether the use was permitted in agricultural zones.

Negola’s facility, a 4,000-square-foot building that may soon house a 1,200-square-foot operating facility, is part of Greenbriar Veterinary Clinic and Pet Resort, an upscale pet care center near Interstate 270 in Urbana.

The pet crematorium was originally proposed as part of the vet clinic, but was changed in a recent site plan to coordinate with the memorial garden, in which 120 pets — from goats to dogs — have already been buried and immortalized with plaques.

The pet crematorium did have both site plan and building permit approvals in 2005, but only for 1,200 square feet and for another location.

Building permits were revoked after the county realized that a final draft of a site plan was not officially signed. That site plan needed one final approval for improvements, such as landscaping plans that Negola said he met.

Negola and his partners have already graded the site, run a $78,000 gas line and electricity under Interstate 270 and secured $5,000 in Maryland Department of the Environment permits. They purchased two crematories at $400,000 each, which they say eliminate smoke and smell.

Currently, animals that are put down at Greenbriar are taken to crematoriums in West Virginia, Pennsylvania or Rockville, Negola said.