Austin hasn’t updated its rules on how graves in the five city cemeteries can be decorated since 1978. It’s tried several times, but it’s an emotional and contentious issue where people don’t see eye to eye. In the interim, there’s been inconsistent enforcement of existing rules, but many mourners have found their planted flowers torn out and their photos, handwritten notes, and other objects honoring the dead thrown out, as the Parks and Recreation Department tries to keep up with maintenance needs at the graveyards, which are all historic sites that also have preservation needs.
Cemetery Operations has dealt with many issues in its attempts to improve conditions and programs at the cemeteries, which PARD had farmed out to a third-party contractor for years before retaking direct control in 2015. That includes the removal and reinterment of at least 25 unidentified graves found during the renovation of the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel in East Austin, and broken irrigation systems that are more than 50 years old. But the main challenge to updating cemetery rules is the tension between families’ plans for their loved ones’ gravesites and PARD’s ability to do routine maintenance like mowing.
In 2013, City Council adopted a resolution directing a community engagement process that culminated in a report in 2015, public meetings throughout 2016 and ’17, and new draft rules in 2018, which were subsequently withdrawn by City Manager Spencer Cronk as the division turned all its focus to Oakwood. Due to the pandemic “and other challenges,” PARD has just now come back to the drawing board. Draft rules were posted for public comment on Sept. 7, and PARD held its first and only virtual community meeting on Monday evening; public comment closed Tuesday evening. No in-person meeting has yet been planned.
Public outcry in 2013 that prompted the Council resolution centered on the threat of decoration removal, but under the proposed rules, Cemetery Operations has “sole discretion” to remove, without notice, anything that poses a “threat to public health or safety or interferes with cemetery operations or maintenance.” All ornamentation is prohibited except unplanted or plastic flowers, commemorative stones, flags no more than 18 inches in length, and items made of cloth – these items can only be placed directly on a memorial or to its left or right. Benches that do not serve as a headstone are not allowed, and trees, shrubs, and other plants may be removed immediately without notice. Scheduled cleanups happen after Feb. 1, Aug. 1, and Nov. 1, during which ornamentation and decorations may be removed and discarded. At least 30 days in advance of these cleanups, PARD will post large signs at the entrances of all five cemeteries and send alerts via social media and email.
In the Monday Zoom meeting, participants cast doubt on the transparency and accessibility of the process and voiced concerns about retroactive enforcement of ornamentation that had been given previous permission. PARD suggested that each gravesite may require individual attention from cemetery specialists Tonja Walls-Davis or Jason Walker to ensure compliance; Walls-Davis noted that enforcement and recordkeeping of the rules since 1978 have been shaky at best. “Unfortunately, we don’t know who has given approval [for ornamentation]; we don’t have a record of that approval,” she said. “We will do our best to contact everybody that we have information for. I guess the most important thing to do is to make sure that we have their information on file.” Walls-Davis recommended joining the cemeteries mailing list at cemeteries@austintexas.gov or calling 512/978-2320 to schedule a meeting.
In November, the draft rules will be submitted for internal city review, and throughout the month of January the public can submit comments through the City Clerk’s Office. The new rules will be adopted in March 2023 – or appealed and sent to a hearing within 30 days.
This article appears in The Drinks Issue (2022).