Vancouver passes bylaw allowing cemetery to share gravesites among multiple families
Mountain View Cemetery has been owned and operated by the City of Vancouver since 1886
The City of Vancouver has approved a number of bylaws aimed at making burial practices more sustainable, including one that allows the city's only cemetery to share gravesites among multiple families.
As of Jan. 1, 2020, individuals or families will be able to acquire partial rights to gravesites at Mountain View Cemetery. The cemetery will also be allowed to license additional rights to another individual or family.
In a news release, the city says the changes help the cemetery maximize land use and encourage more sustainable interment options.
Another bylaw change allows the cemetery to decide when additional remains can be added to spaces within a shorter time frame.
Previously, the number of caskets was limited to two in a 40-year period.
Located west of Fraser St between 31st Avenue and 43rd Avenue, Mountain View Cemetery has been owned and operated by the City of Vancouver since 1886.
The municipality says the cemetery has encouraged sustainable burial practices for decades, including not requiring concrete vault liners, allowing the use of biodegradable materials to hold the body, and allowing native plants to grow on the surface.