Mariposa’s town cemetery is full, or nearly so. We average 8 to 15 internments a year and have, at best, another two years of useable space. Most communities across the nation have gotten out of the cemetery business in favor of private ownership and operation. For the limited amount of demand in Mariposa such a process would be prohibitively expensive. Therefore the board of supervisors is attempting to find an appropriate parcel for a new cemetery. State law allows a county to operate a cemetery as long as it is five acres or less.

Our cemetery committee has worked diligently to identify two quasi-suitable parcels within the town area. One is five acres with slope and access constraints. The other is 2.5 acres which, after building a desired loop road through the parcel for access, would leave precious little room for long term usability.

Tradition dictates that Mariposa’s cemetery is immediately in or adjacent to the town area. This constraint has allowed the committee to identify no parcels which are truly optimal. Many parts of the country observe an opposite norm of having the cemetery just outside of the populated areas by a mile or so. If we allow the committee to consider available acreage one, two or even three miles outside town we suspect a flat parcel could be identified which would eliminate all the complexities of parking, accessibility, and most importantly, usable space. Cost of development for access roads and walkways is a major concern. No money is identified for this challenge and building on sloped land will compound costs for necessary improvements.

We don’t get much experience in locating and developing cemeteries. Hopefully we will choose well and our new parcel will fill the need for 30 to 50 years. I don’t believe we should develop a less that optimal cemetery considering the permanence of the decision. This is not an action that can be easily reversed 3 to 5 years down the road.

Your opinion is important. The board of supervisors must make a decision soon and needs to be guided by input from interested citizens. Please take a minute to give us the benefit of your counsel.