TOWN ORDINANCE
CHAPTER XIV
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
(Cont’d)
CEMETERIES
SECTION 1. GENERAL RULES.
(a) The cemetery is open to visitors from sunrise to sunset.
(b) All visitors are expected to respect the solemnity of the place and strictly observe the rules established for the purpose of securing quiet and good order at all times within the grounds.
(c) The Town of Denton shall establish the grade of all lots, lawns, and avenues, and shall direct generally all improvements within the grounds, upon all lots, before as well as after interments have been made therein. They will have charge of all planting, sodding, surveying and improvements generally at the cemetery.
(d) Nothing may be brought into or removed from the park without permit from the Town Clerk. This rule is designed to prevent theft and unauthorized entrance upon lots or graves.
(e) It is not permitted to change the grade of a lot to conform to a monument. The base of the monument must be of sufficient depth to meet the grade established.
(f) No fences or walls will be allowed within the cemetery, either of concrete, stone, wood or iron, nor coping, or curbing of concrete, brick, stone, or any other material.
(g) Hedges, wooden or iron trellises, posts and chains for the purpose of enclosure, railings, steps, boxing or borders are prohibited.
(h) No person with firearms, dogs, refreshments or liquors shall be permitted to enter the grounds.
(i) All persons are forbidden, under penalty of the law, to kill, wound, or trap any bird or animal within the limits of the cemetery, or to remove the young of any animal or the eggs of any bird.
(j) All persons are strictly prohibited from plucking any plants, whether wild or cultivated, disturbing waterfowl or other birds, breaking or injuring any trees or shrub, marring any monument or landmark, or in any way defacing the grounds.
(k) All persons are forbidden to sit upon monuments, headstones, or mausoleums.
(l) Casual visitors to the cemetery, who are not members of a funeral procession or party are forbidden to intrude upon a funeral party, or to loiter about an open gate.
(m) School children in charge of a teacher, art students, botanists, ornithologists, students of forestry, or others, who may benefit from a study of the works of art and nature, will be welcomed. All who propose to make visits for such purposes are requested to call upon the Town Clerk before going about the grounds.
(n) Trespassing upon the grounds of the cemetery is forbidden, and the Chief of Police may arrest any person disturbing its sanctity by noisy, boisterous, or other improper conduct, or who shall violate any of the foregoing rules.
(o) All persons are reminded that the grounds are sacredly devoted to the burial of the dead, and that the provisions and penalties of the law, will be strictly enforced.
SECTION 2. INTERMENT.
(a) Casket Not to be Disturbed. Once a casket containing a body is within the confines of the cemetery, no funeral director, or his embalmer, assistant employee or agent, shall be permitted to open the casket or to touch the body without the consent of the legal representatives of the deceased, or a relative in charge of the funeral, or without a court order.
(b) Subject to Laws, Rules and Regulations. Besides being subject to these rules and regulations, all interments, disinterments and removals are made subject to the orders and laws of the properly constituted authorities of the County and State.
(c) Time and Charges. All interments, disinterments, and removals, must be made at the time and in the manner and upon such charges as fixed by the Town of Denton.
(d) Holidays. The Town of Denton shall have the right, at its option, to refuse to make interments, disinterments or removals on Sundays or holidays.
(e) Application for Interment. The Town of Denton reserves the right to refuse interment in any plot, and to refuse to open any burial space for any purpose, except on written application by the plot owners of record.
(f) Location of Interment Space. When instructions regarding the location of an interment space in a plot cannot be obtained, or are indefinite, or when for any reason the interment space cannot be opened where specified, or when, in the opinion of the Town Clerk, the same has been improperly designated, the Town Clerk may, in his discretion, open it in such location in the plot as he deems best and proper, and the Town of Denton shall not be liable in damages for any errors so made, or for opening such space in location other than specified by the plot owner.
(g) Orders Given by Telephone. The Town of Denton shall not be held responsible for any order given by telephone, or for any mistake occurring from the want of written, precise and proper instructions as to the particular space, size and location in a plot where interment is desired.
(h) Errors May be Corrected. The Town of Denton reserves, and shall have the right to correct any errors that may be made by it, either in making interments, disinterments, or removals, or in the description, transfer or conveyance of any interment property, either by cancelling such conveyance and substituting and conveying in lieu thereof other interment property of equal value and similar location as far as possible, or as may be selected by the Town of Denton, or in the sole discretion of the Town of Denton, by refunding the amount of money paid on account of said purchase. In the event such error shall involve the interment of the remains of any person in such property, the Town of Denton reserves, and shall have, the right to remove and transfer such remains so interred to such other property of equal value and similar location as may be substituted and conveyed in lieu thereof. The Town of Denton shall also have the right and opportunity to correct any errors for which it may be legally responsible, and when so corrected, no claim shall lie against it on account thereof.
(i) No Interment Permitted When Payments are in Arrears. No interment shall be permitted in any property unless all payments on purchase price thereof and all fees and charges due from purchasers have been fully paid, except by special consent of the Town of Denton in writing, in each and every case, and, in the event such consent is given, any and all interments placed in said property shall be considered as temporary, and a note shall not be considered as payment, and no rights shall be acquired by the plot purchaser until such property is fully paid for in cash, including principal and interest. In case the purchaser of any plot shall fail to meet all payments when due, the the Town of Denton after fifteen days from date of mailing notice thereof to last known address of plot owner, may re-enter said property and hold the same as of its former estate. The Town of Denton thereupon, shall be released from all obligations under the contract of purchase of said plot, and it may retain such payments as may have been made toward the purchase of such property as liquidated damages. The Town of Denton reserves the right, and shall have the right immediately, or at any time thereafter, upon five day’s notice to lot owner’s last known address, at its discretion, to remove to single graves, to be chosen by the Town of Denton, each of the remains then interred in said property, or, in its sole discretion it may, after notice as aforesaid, cancel said defaulting purchaser’s contract and sell the unused portion of his or her plot to other purchasers. The Town of Denton further, shall also have the right to remove, without liability, any memorial that may have been placed on said property.
(j) Interment of More than One Body. Not more than one body, or the remains of more than one body, shall be interred in one grave or vault, unless such grave or vault has been purchased with the written agreement of the Town of Denton that more than one body or the remains of more than one body, may be interred, and provided proper identification is made of such interment or interments on one regulation memorial or marker.
(k) May Obtain Larger Plot. A body, or cremated remains, may be removed from its original plot to a larger or better plot in the cemetery, where there has been an exchange or purchase for that purpose.
(l) Consent of Town of Denton. No transfer or assignment of any plot or interest therein, shall be valid without the consent in writing of the Town of Denton first to be hand and endorsed upon such transfer or assignment, and thereafter being recorded on the books of the Town of Denton.
(m) Indebtedness. The Town of Denton may refuse to consent to a transfer or to an assignment as long as there is any indebtedness due the Town of Denton from the record plot owner, or person owning right of interment therein.
(n) Transfer Charges. All transfers of ownership in plots shall be subject to a charge of $5.00, which charge must be paid to the Town of Denton when the transfer is recorded.
(o) May not Subdivide Plots. The subdivision of plots is not allowed, and no one shall be buried in any plot not having any interest therein, except by written consent of record plot owner, or owner of right of interment, in such plot, and the Town of Denton.
(p) Right to Replat, Regrade and Use Property. The right to enlarge, reduce, replan or change the boundaries or grading of the cemetery, or of the section or sections, from time to time, including the right to modify and change the locations of or remove or regrade roads, drives and walks, or any part thereof, is hereby expressly reserved. The right to lay, maintain and operate or alter or change pipe lines and gutters for sprinkling systems, drainage, lakes, etc., is also expressly reserved, as well as is the right to use cemetery property, not sold to individual plot owners, for cemetery purposes, or for anything necessary, incidental or convenient thereto. The Town of Denton reserves to itself, and those lawfully using the privileges and facilities of the cemetery, a perpetual right of ingress and egress over plots for the purpose of passage to and from other plots or roadways.
(q) No Right Granted in Alleyways. No easement or right of interment is granted to any plot owner in any road, drive, alley or walk within the cemetery, but such road, drive, alley or walk may be used as a means of access to the cemetery or buildings as long as the Town Denton devotes it to that purpose.
(r) Must Use Walks. Persons within the cemetery grounds shall, as nearly as practicable, use only the avenues, walks, alleys and roads, and shall not walk upon or across the grass or any portion of the cemetery other than the avenues, walks, alleys or roads.
(s) Trespassers on Cemetery Plots. The Town of Denton shall owe no duty to a trespasser to keep the property or any memorial therein in a reasonably safe condition.
(t) Traffic Rules.
(1) Visitors are admitted to the cemetery only at the discretion of the Town of Denton.
(2) No person will be allowed to enter the cemetery except through regular entrance maintained for the public for such purpose.
(3) The use of roads and paths in the cemetery as thoroughfares or public highways, either in vehicles or on foot, is prohibited.
(4) There shall be no driving allowed over the lots or upon the lawns under any pretense whatsoever.
(5) Omnibuses, or heavy conveyances, will not be allowed to enter the grounds, except by special permission of the superintendent.
(6) Promiscuous walking upon the lawns is not permitted.
(7) Visitors will not be permitted to sit or lie upon the grass nor in the shrubbery.
(8) No person shall sit upon or occupy any private lot, not his or her own, or belonging to a member of the family.
(9) Admission of vehicles upon the roads will be permitted as a privilege and not as a right inherent in the ownership of a lot, or otherwise. As a privilege, it is restricted to those who observe the traffic rules adopted.
(10) The speed limit for automobiles is limited to 15 miles per hour.
(11) Vehicles are not permitted to turn upon roads, but must go around the section.
(12) Visitors upon foot have the primary right to the use of the roads, and all vehicle drivers are required to observe their right by careful driving and strict adherence to the rules.
(13) Funeral processions must obey the traffic rules the same as individual drivers.
(14) Heavy trucking in the cemetery is permitted only in connection with the work therein, and a permit must be first obtained from the superintendent, who in his discretion, will detail some one to meet the vehicle at the entrance and remain with it until the work is done.
(15) Florists’ and undertakers’ deliveries shall be made only through a main entrance, and directions must be obtained from the proper officer of the Town of Denton, who may detain the driver until his destination is known.
(16) Drivers will carefully observe and obey the traffic signals displayed throughout the grounds.
(17) Any driver who runs any vehicle upon the lawns, across gutters or anywhere else where damage results therefrom, shall be required to make good such damages.
(18) The sounding of horns, sirens, or other automobile signals within the cemetery, except in case of emergency is prohibited.
(19) Automobiles shall not be driven through the grounds at a greater speed than fifteen miles per hour, and must always be kept on the right hand side of the cemetery roadway. No automobile, which is not in a funeral procession, may stop in front of an open grave. All automobiles must park as directed by the superintendent, or his assistant.
(u) Children. Children will be excluded at any time, unless accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for their conduct. Children, when accompanied by an adult, must not be permitted to play upon the lots or lawn, nor climb upon headstones, monuments, or mausoleums.
(v) Flowers, etc. All persons are prohibited from gathering flowers, either wild or cultivated, or breaking trees, shrubbery or plants, or disturbing the birds.
(w) Plot Owners Bound by Rules and Regulations. Regardless of whether the right of interment in the cemetery is evidenced by deed of conveyance, or by instrument conveying only right of interment, the owner of any plot conveyed, or owner of right of interment shall be bound by all of the Town of Denton’s rules and regulations now or hereafter in force.
(x) Lounging on Grounds. Strangers shall not be permitted to sit or lounge on any of the grounds, graves, or monuments in the cemetery, or in any of the buildings.
(y) Loud Talking. No loud talking shall be permitted on the cemetery grounds within hearing distance of funeral services.
(z) Rubbish. The throwing of rubbish on the drives and paths, or any part of the grounds, is prohibited. Receptacles for waste material are located at convenient places.
(aa) Bicycles and Motorcycles. No bicycles or motorcycles shall be admitted to the cemetery except such as may be in attendance at funerals or on business.
(bb) Peddling or Soliciting. Peddling of flowers or plants, or soliciting the sale of any commodity, is positively prohibited within the confines of the cemetery.
(cc) Firearms. No firearms shall be permitted within the cemetery.
(dd) Notices and Advertisements. No signs or notices or advertisements of any kind shall be allowed in the cemetery.
(ee) Dogs. Dogs shall not be allowed on cemetery grounds.
(ff) Improprieties. It is of the utmost importance that there should be strict observance of all of the proprieties, whether embraced in these rules or not, and no improprieties shall be allowed.
(gg) Interment Rights of Plot Owners. The Town of Denton shall convey only a right of interment in its lots, or subdivisions. The owner of such right is required, during his lifetime, to designate, in writing, to the Town of Denton, the names of those members of his family (or near relatives), or others, whom he wishes to have interred upon his lot. Such writing will then be filed with the office records and be binding on the Town of Denton, unless waived by legal representative of owner.