ASHFIELD — Eternal Roots has withdrawn its application for a special permit to operate a “memorial forest reserve” for cremated human remains on a 268.5-acre parcel at the base of Mount Owen.
“After several months of engaging with town officials and the broader community, we’ve elected to withdraw our special permit application for a memorial forest reserve in Ashfield,” founder Gavin Yerxa said in a statement Friday. “We still believe deeply in the mission to conserve forested land while giving people a lasting way to memorialize loved ones. We appreciate the input we’ve received throughout this process, and will be exploring other paths forward that allow us to live up to that mission.”
The plan for the Mount Owen property, parcel No. 8502 on Conway Road (Route 116), had been to develop a “memorial forest reserve” where people can “return (their) ashes to the base of (their) own memorial tree” as “a natural return to the Earth” while leaving “a lasting legacy by helping conserve the forest,” according to Eternal Roots’ website.
Since early February, however, residents and officials have expressed numerous environmental, health and legal concerns relating to the project, resulting in multiple continuations of public hearings. The Conservation Commission had previously closed the hearing and was approaching potential approval of the company’s operations before being confronted by an abutting property owner who claimed the company’s notification to abutters was inadequate.
“This is the first time we’ve had to deal with anything of this scale, in terms of its opposition from abutters and complexities of the site,” said Conservation Commission Chair Phil Lussier, who has served on the commission for 21 years. “Once there’s any kind of complexity to the site, it becomes much easier for an abutter to slow the process.”
When people bought land 10 to 15 years ago, Lussier said, they were able to easily avoid wetlands.
“All of the more developable properties were purchased, and that leaves very few that can be developed without the Conservation Commission and other agencies getting involved to a greater degree than they’ve ever been before,” he said.
Lussier added that in small towns, conservation commissions are made up of volunteers, not necessarily experts with extensive time.
“Then the call comes for us to hire a wetlands scientist to help settle the disputes,” he said. “I think the time’s come, county-wide, for some kind of county-wide conservation position.”
At a Planning Board hearing last week, which was expected to continue to a future date, Ashfield officials and residents expressed skepticism regarding unclear road and culvert dimension delineations, drainage infrastructure to accommodate flooding and mountain runoff, and the sweeping away of ashes by floodwater.
The discussion that evening also addressed the chemical composition of cremated remains and how their high pH levels might affect the health of both people and the ecosystem. Despite contrary arguments from local environmental experts, Eternal Roots has leaned on the state website’s statement that cremation “renders ashes harmless, so there is no public health risk involved in scattering ashes.”
Last week’s Planning Board hearing followed a hearing by the Conservation Commission, during which conservation members noted there were more wetland areas than had been delineated in the project plans. Berkshire Design Group, which had been hired by Eternal Roots for the project, was asked to return with a revised plan with updated wetland delineations.
Berkshire Design Group Principal Jeff Squire said the decision of the applicants to withdraw their application was likely due to local opposition to the project.
The applicant, Squire said, “didn’t want to invest the money to fight something that most of the locals or abutters didn’t seem to want.”
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne