New Mausoleums Approved After Years of Waiting

Gary Morey and his wife bought five crypts at the for themselves and some close family members 13 years ago.

“That was in 1998, and we’re still waiting for these crypts to be built,” Morey said at meeting Wednesday night.

Since the purchase, the body of Morey’s deceased mother-in-law, intended for one of those five crypts, has been in holding. But not for too much longer.

The Design Review Board unanimously approved a project to add three new mausoleums to the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery at their Sept. 8 meeting. The plan is the first phase of a 50-year project that will construct 22 new mausoleums, expand the chapel and office building and add more parking spaces.

“It’s been 11 arduous years for this,” the cemetery’s owner Buck Kamphausen said.

The project was initially proposed to the Marin County Community Development Agency years back, but was held up twice before being turned over to San Rafael city staff, according to Kamphausen.

“I don’t think any other business in the county has had to go through this,” he said.

As the project lingered between the county and the city, 30 people, including Mori, waited for the project to be approved so their purchased crypts could be built.

“We’re not getting any younger, and we’d like to have this thing be completed so we have a place to go,” said Morey, who is in his 80s.

Although the project has been in the works since before 2006, the city approved the project’s 50-year master plan in 2008. The property left the jurisdiction of the county and was annexed to the city by 2010. Wednesday was the second time the first phase of the project had been in front of the Design Review Board.

“I really resent being told that we’re not doing our jobs in a timely manner on this,” Design Review Board member Bob Huntsberry said.

When the board initially approved the project in May 2008, they told the architect to return with a muted color palette for the clay roof tiles and a plan for more trees and shrubs that would screen the houses along Ray Court from two mausoleums that would be built in Angeles Gardens.

The Design Review Board approved the project Sept. 7 with the conditions that there be one more check about the colors while construction is in process, so it will not slow construction.

Editor's Note: In an earlier version of this story, Gary Morey's name was spelled differently.