Mayhew Funeral Home.....

jrc · 08-12-2011, 06:01 AM

Why would the ZBA be involved? The business is in an area zoned for that type of business. You only need the ZBA, when you bend or break the zoning rules, you don't need their permission too follow the rules.

Argie's Wife · 08-12-2011, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrc

Why would the ZBA be involved? The business is in an area zoned for that type of business. You only need the ZBA, when you bend or break the zoning rules, you don't need their permission too follow the rules.

The ZBA should be involved, in my opinion.

Quick list of why that's my opinion:
1) The use of the land is being changed.
2) The nature of the business being conducted is being changed.
3) The business will be adding a device (the "oven") that has to meet strict fire codes; access to the business and the abutters' buildings should be checked by the local fire dept (fire code need to be met, in other words).
4) The business will have a chimney that they did not have before, and the town should have some rules for appropriate roof lines, etc.
5) The chimney will be in-use 12 months of the year, so smells, soot, and other considerations should be made for the abutters during the "open windows" seasons.
6) The new service could increase traffic in the area; can the parking lot handle those potential increases? Is there a safe pull-out/pull-in view of the driveway and parking area?
(Really - why would this business want to have this new service on-site if they weren't trying to get more customers? This has to be a large initial investment for the funeral home, so they're certainly expecting it will pay off.)

7) With the potential increase in traffic for their services, can the funeral home's septic service handle that increase?

This is just my $0.02 as a lay-man. I'm not a builder nor am I on the ZBA, but I do know that this will have an impact on the area - that much is obvious. I certainly would not want this in my backyard unless I had assurances already that the impact on my home, the value of my home, and my quality of life would be miminal, if at all.

jmen24 · 08-12-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

The ZBA should be involved, in my opinion.

Quick list of why that's my opinion:
1) The use of the land is being changed. The use has not changed, it is still a recognized function that falls under the definition of a funeral home.
2) The nature of the business being conducted is being changed.This also does not require a use change before the ZBA. At most a letter would need to be written to the person responsible for such matters at the town. If I wanted to convert my showroom to a retail space, I would only have to conform to the additional parking space requirements and can add in the on street parking that currently exists in my satisfaction of that requirement.
3) The business will be adding a device (the "oven") that has to meet strict fire codes; access to the business and the abutters' buildings should be checked by the local fire dept (fire code need to be met, in other words). How fire code pertains to this building is the only building that matters. The abutters and neighbors only become involved if you are handling hazardous waste and other such items. If you neighbor changed the zoning for his lot to comercial and opened a pizza joint, you would not be responsible for increasing your fire protection to a comercial standard for the type of business.
4) The business will have a chimney that they did not have before, and the town should have some rules for appropriate roof lines, etc. Cremetorium chimneys are typically stand alone units, not the same type that you pipe a woodstove into. The heat and gases would break down a tile flue chimney, therefore a metal style chimney is used and would full under the building inspector and local fire codes for proximity to combustable materials.
5) The chimney will be in-use 12 months of the year, so smells, soot, and other considerations should be made for the abutters during the "open windows" seasons. See answer statement 3
6) The new service could increase traffic in the area; can the parking lot handle those potential increases? Is there a safe pull-out/pull-in view of the driveway and parking area? The actual use of the building wouldn't change. It would still be considered an assembly structure and would have to have met the requirements in regard to parking and loading at that time. The use has not changed, they have just added an additional service that falls under the same service heading.
(Really - why would this business want to have this new service on-site if they weren't trying to get more customers? This has to be a large initial investment for the funeral home, so they're certainly expecting it will pay off.)

7) With the potential increase in traffic for their services, can the funeral home's septic service handle that increase? Same anwser as statement 6

This is just my $0.02 as a lay-man. I'm not a builder nor am I on the ZBA, but I do know that this will have an impact on the area - that much is obvious. I certainly would not want this in my backyard unless I had assurances already that the impact on my home, the value of my home, and my quality of life would be miminal, if at all.

See my answers above in the post. AW, your opinion stands, just giving you the perspective you said that you lacked.

Unfurtunately, the time to debate whether or not this business should be allowed to practice at this location has come and gone. When the initial plan was presented prior to construction, that is when they should have stood up. For all we know the initial application could state that a cremation oven would be installed at a later date and all the provisions required for that addition were met in the initial construction of the space. All it would take is a trip to the Meredith town offices and opening the file for this property. Heck you can do that for your neighbors as well if you so choose, so this women should be making sure that she has followed the letter of the law in concern to every contruction related activity performed at her residence. The table could be quickly turned. I am sure the town would like to find a reason to stop all the complaining[/

Skip · 08-12-2011, 04:33 PM

Great answers jmen.

Unfortunately the facts in this issue got skewed when, for whatever reason, FLL posted misinformation about the ZBA's alleged involvement.

A couple of things to point out. The Funeral Home is not located in a residential neighborhood, but is in a commercial zone where the business is and was an allowable use under Meredith's zoning regulations. The complainant's home is in an abutting residential zone, but if you GoogeMap the area you will see its an area wedged between to heavy use roadways (Route 3 and Route 104) which explains why the funeral home is in a commercial zone.

As the story explains, the owner of the business has secured all the required permits for the installation of the crematorium. Additionally the Meredith Code Enforcement officer reviewed the instllation and had ruled that under Meredith's zoning laws, a crematorium is an allowable use for a funeral home. Being ruled a ancillary function, the business owner was not required to appear before the Planning board nor seek a variance from the ZBA. FLL's assertion that the ZBA allowed this is false.

Now, does the complainant have an avenue of appeal available to her? Yes, under State law and clearly cited in Meredith's zoning ordinance, she clearly had the right to appeal the Code Enforcement Officer's ruling to the ZBA. The ZBA then would be required to have a public hearing and make a determination on the matter. If she was unhappy with that decision and a subsequent rehearing then she has the right to appeal to the Belknap Superior Court for a final ruling.

Likewise the business owner, if ruled against by the ZBA, could also appeal the decision to the Superior Court.

To sum it up the business owner has followed applicable State law and secured the necessary permits, and has obtained a decision from the Meredith Code Enforcement Officer that under Meredith's current zoning regulations the addition of the crematorium is an allowed ancillary use requiring no appearance before the Planning Board.

The complainant has, since May, not availed herself of her legal right to appeal to the Meredith ZBA but has chosen to protest the crematorium by attempting to harass innocent customers using the business for a legal purpose.

Only the complainant can answer as to why she has chosen not to follow the appropriate course of action clearly available to her!

But, as always, the Devil is in the details.....

fatlazyless · 08-12-2011, 05:09 PM

Say everyone, let's all have a big round of applause and a big thank you to Skip for that very informative post!

Hey.....maybe I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree! As usual, I have nothing that's intelligent to say, but at least I am consistent!

Now, if someone could snap a couple-three photos of that ghoulish array of front yard horror manniquins and the large info sign that lists all the carcinogens emitted from a crematorium smokestack and post the photos here, it would be appreciated!

Argie's Wife · 08-12-2011, 06:14 PM

Skip & Jmen - thanks for the posts - that clarifies it a lot...

Quote:

The complainant has, since May, not availed herself of her legal right to appeal to the Meredith ZBA but has chosen to protest the crematorium by attempting to harass innocent customers using the business for a legal purpose.

Now, where did I leave off on my "shame on her!" comments....?

Maybe she and the rooster complaintant we discussed in an earlier thread could buy an island together?

P-3 Guy · 08-21-2011, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip

Great answers jmen.

Unfortunately the facts in this issue got skewed when, for whatever reason, FLL posted misinformation about the ZBA's alleged involvement.

A couple of things to point out. The Funeral Home is not located in a residential neighborhood, but is in a commercial zone where the business is and was an allowable use under Meredith's zoning regulations. The complainant's home is in an abutting residential zone, but if you GoogeMap the area you will see its an area wedged between to heavy use roadways (Route 3 and Route 104) which explains why the funeral home is in a commercial zone.

As the story explains, the owner of the business has secured all the required permits for the installation of the crematorium. Additionally the Meredith Code Enforcement officer reviewed the instllation and had ruled that under Meredith's zoning laws, a crematorium is an allowable use for a funeral home. Being ruled a ancillary function, the business owner was not required to appear before the Planning board nor seek a variance from the ZBA. FLL's assertion that the ZBA allowed this is false.

Now, does the complainant have an avenue of appeal available to her? Yes, under State law and clearly cited in Meredith's zoning ordinance, she clearly had the right to appeal the Code Enforcement Officer's ruling to the ZBA. The ZBA then would be required to have a public hearing and make a determination on the matter. If she was unhappy with that decision and a subsequent rehearing then she has the right to appeal to the Belknap Superior Court for a final ruling.

Likewise the business owner, if ruled against by the ZBA, could also appeal the decision to the Superior Court.

To sum it up the business owner has followed applicable State law and secured the necessary permits, and has obtained a decision from the Meredith Code Enforcement Officer that under Meredith's current zoning regulations the addition of the crematorium is an allowed ancillary use requiring no appearance before the Planning Board.

The complainant has, since May, not availed herself of her legal right to appeal to the Meredith ZBA but has chosen to protest the crematorium by attempting to harass innocent customers using the business for a legal purpose.

Only the complainant can answer as to why she has chosen not to follow the appropriate course of action clearly available to her!

But, as always, the Devil is in the details.....

Skip, your post is very informative and spot-on. I do, however, have one small quibble. The "administrative decision" that Meredith CEO Bill Edney made was more than likely not openly publicized or distributed. In other words, the first indication that the complaining neighbor had that a crematorium would be added to the funeral home was probably when said crematorium was under construction. It's not like she was informed of what was going on from the get-go.

VitaBene · 08-22-2011, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMI Guy

Skip, your post is very informative and spot-on. I do, however, have one small quibble. The "administrative decision" that Meredith CEO Bill Edney made was more than likely not openly publicized or distributed. In other words, the first indication that the complaining neighbor had that a crematorium would be added to the funeral home was probably when said crematorium was under construction. It's not like she was informed of what was going on from the get-go.

Do they really call him the CEO?

fatlazyless · 08-22-2011, 06:13 AM

Slightly off topic, but that never stopped me before. The LaDaSun had an article a couple days ago talking about the costs incurred by the City of Laconia for residents who die with no burial plans and no money. The article said Laconia used the www.WilkinsonBeane.com Funeral Home in Laconia and that it charged $750 for the most basic cremation. That sounds pretty high for what the cremation actually does. Will try to find a working link to the LaDaSun article from this past week, maybe last Wednesday or Thursday.

How much for the Meredith www.MayhewFuneralhomes.com least expensive cremation?

If only www.WalMart.com in Gilford or Plymouth or Tilton or Littleton or Woodsville or Conway or Gorham would get into the cremation biz!

Rusty · 08-22-2011, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Slightly off topic, but that never stopped me before. The LaDaSun had an article a couple days ago talking about the costs incurred by the City of Laconia for residents who die with no burial plans and no money. The article said Laconia used the www.WilkinsonBeane.com Funeral Home in Laconia and that it charged $750 for the most basic cremation. That sounds pretty high for what the cremation actually does. Will try to find a working link to the LaDaSun article from this past week, maybe last Wednesday or Thursday.

How much for the Meredith www.MayhewFuneralhomes.com least expensive cremation?

If only www.WalMart.com in Gilford or Plymouth or Tilton or Littleton or Woodsville or Conway or Gorham would get into the cremation biz!

P-3 Guy · 08-22-2011, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Do they really call him the CEO?

I doubt it; that's just my abbreviation for Code Enforcement Officer.

fatlazyless · 08-22-2011, 09:06 AM

Is there any difference between a code enforcement officer and a building inspector or is it just a case of semantics for defining the same job description?

"Hey, the salary stinks, but the pay is great!" That's what at least one Boston building inspector used to say, back about 1978.

Averial · 08-24-2011, 01:55 AM

The funeral that this gentleman is talking about was located at Mayhew Funeral Home here in Meredith N.H. Since Mayhew installed his crematorium I have had to buy and air conditioner and two cooling tower fans as I can no longer keep my windows open and use fans to cool my home during the heat. The airconditioner makes a lot of noise and subsequently I have to keep the volume turned up on my TV and stereo player in order to hear anything. these people came across the street and told me twice to turn my volume down that they could hear my audio playing. Then a woman started walking back and forth in front of my home while talking on her cell phone, and suddenly she is down on the lower end of my home with her cell phone pointed at my home and looked to me as if she were taking a picture. I have no idea who she was, so I opend my front door and called to her, are you stalking me, or are you caseing out my home to come back later and rob me. She said,"Lady you havent a thing in there that Iwould want. I closed my door, and a few minutes later I looked out to see to large men all dressed in black walking around in my front yard on my lawn. At that point, I had enough and called out to them to get off my lawn or I was going to call the police and have them arrested. This is a private home. it does not belong to Mayhew. I do not have to shut down my life and live in complete silence everytime that he has a funeral. If you choose to have a funeral at his place you need to realize that some of us are still alive and do not have to observe the living or the dead at everyone of his funerals. Also right now while I am typing this there is a pungent spicey smell throughout my house that come in my home every time that he burns a dead body. I have complained about this numerous times and no one in the Meredith Town office will listen to me, my nose burns and my throat burns and may eyes are watering, but I am being made to endure this everytime that he burns a body over there. Now does anyone else want to step up to the plate and criticise me, I dare you to. None of you would want to have to live with what this man and his pack of theives have done to my quality of life. This is abuse of the elderly. I am 71 years old.

Greene's Basin Girl · 08-24-2011, 02:25 AM

I do feel sorry for you. I would not want to live next to a crematorium---not now--not ever. I don't think I would ever want to be cremated after reading about what takes place. I think I'd rather be thrown in the graveyard on L. Winnipeasukee and be devoured by some fish.

Averial · 08-24-2011, 02:54 AM

Thankyou so much for your kind words. I just E-Mailed my friend Peg O'Conor in Laconia. No one believes me when I say that I can smell this stuff. I am getting so depressed by all of this. I woke my son who lives with me and he can smell it to. My eyes are watering, my nose and my throat burn. Mayhew burned a body yesterday and I think that at night the air is heavier and it settles in my chimney and goes throughout my house. I don't want to go out in my yard when he burns a body. I am 71 years old, a retired RN who cared for the elderly for 37 and 1/2 years and thought that upon my retireing I could work outside in the summer in my gardens and have a little enjoyment of my home. I feel like Mayhew has not only robbed me of the value of my home but also of my quality of life. to me this is abuse of the elderly. No one at the town office in Meredith will listen to me. I have contacted a lawyer that has told me that when I go to sell my home then maybe I can do something about this. In the meantime I am just supposed to put up with the smell and hopefully drop dead soon. I have heart problems and arthritis, and have to live with pain and reduced energy level. This is all wrong. Mayhew says he had to put it in because he wasn't makeing enough profit. Well thanks Mayhew, you just robbed me of my home value and my quality of life. My son who has had an accident and is not well lives with me and now when he gets up in the morning and sits on the couch and looks out the picture window he sees Mayhews huge Crematory Chimmney, he battled Cancer for a year and is now in remission. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. Neighbors should have to suffer so that Mayhew can make a profit. He owns a pontoon boat, a huge motorized home and God only knows how many other toys to play with. I have lost all respect for the man and at this point, the entire Mayhew family.

martbri7 · 08-24-2011, 06:39 AM

The airconditioner makes a lot of noise and subsequently I have to keep the volume turned up on my TV and stereo player in order to hear anything. these people came across the street and told me twice to turn my volume down that they could hear my audio playing

She asked you to turn down the music because you had sounds of chains dragging across the ground ...and halloweenish sounds....when we first arrived...thank you for at least changing the selection of music...but your speakers were outside so I'm confused by some of your points

Averial · 08-24-2011, 08:01 AM

You must be confused. Do not and I say do not sent anymore of you people over here to try and rough handle me

fatlazyless · 08-24-2011, 08:19 AM

Winnipesaukee.com has a lot of different forum names and Averial is a new one here, so WELCOME to this forum, and it's great to hear from the opposing opinions on this hot & smelly issue!

Jmo77011 · 08-24-2011, 09:13 AM

She asked you to turn down the music because you had sounds of chains dragging across the ground ...and halloweenish sounds....when we first arrived...thank you for at least changing the selection of music...but your speakers were outside so I'm confused by some of your points[/QUOTE]

If this is true, than it is in extremely poor taste and you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. While I sympathize with your plight, I feel that there is never a good excuse to be disrespectful at a funeral, ever. I hope that you are able to work things out through the proper channels in the future. Perhaps joining together with your fellow neighbors would be a good place to start.

Argie's Wife · 08-24-2011, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmo77011

She asked you to turn down the music because you had sounds of chains dragging across the ground ...and halloweenish sounds....when we first arrived...thank you for at least changing the selection of music...but your speakers were outside so I'm confused by some of your points

If this is true, than it is in extremely poor taste and you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. While I sympathize with your plight, I feel that there is never a good excuse to be disrespectful at a funeral, ever. I hope that you are able to work things out through the proper channels in the future. Perhaps joining together with your fellow neighbors would be a good place to start.[/QUOTE]

Are you certain that this poster is the same one who has the signs and outdoor speakers? It could be that this is a separate abutter to the Mayhew Funeral Home property and not the same Carolyn Pillsbury mentioned in the article from The Citizen or The Laconia Daily Sun.

jrc · 08-24-2011, 11:09 AM

People must be dropping like flies in Meredith, how many funerals does this place do?

SAMIAM · 08-24-2011, 11:47 AM

This is getting bad....men in black sneaking around her house. And now we find out that Mayhew has a pontoon boat??? How dare he?
I have a solution.....since her son does not appear to be working, perhaps he could get a job at Mayhews since it is right across the street. They are fair people and would be willing to give an employee discount should she ever need his services.
Can't we all just get along?

Averial · 08-24-2011, 12:04 PM

The reason I mentioned the Pontoon Boat and Motorized Home is because Peter Mayhews excuse to me for putting in the crematorium right under his neighbor's noses was because he was not makeing enough profit. Well it sounds to me like he is makeing quite a bit of profit.He told me that he didn't feel that he had to tell me about his plans because he knew that I would not like liveing right across from dead bodies burning all the time. This place has very few funerals, but he cremates for other funeral homes north of him. He has got to pay for this thing somehow. He has always felt like he owns this street, even the day that one of his customers almost ran over my little granddaughter and when my daughter confronted him with the fact that he needed to have a little control of his customers and keep them off from my front lawn, his relply was "That's not my problem, I have no control over how my customers drive or where they park. He is a charmer

sa meredith · 08-24-2011, 12:11 PM

Let me play devil's advocate here for a second.
1st of all...we can all play "holier than thou" if we want to, but NOT A SINGLE MEMBER OF THIS FORUM would be happy if this situation took place next door to them. I believe the old saying is, "Yes, but not in MY back yard".
Anyway...back to devils advocate.
Suppose it was me. Should I be respectful of a grieving family during a wake, as people enter and leave the funeral home? Well, of course.
However, if a wake happens to be scheduled on the same day I planned a major, all out, booze infested rip out, party of the summer, complete with a live outdoor band...well, too freakin' bad for them.
It has to work both ways. I would walk over and say..."hey, your wake is really bringing down the spirit of my guests. Could you move things along a bit?"
Tit for tat. No grey area here. If fact, in this case, she could say..."well I was here first, and before you chose this site for your business, you should have realized I am a very loud, obnoxious drunk. Leave if you want to".
With very little effort, I am quite sure I could get this funeral home a reputation of a place that people should simply not hire, for their arraigments. It would be known as the place with the loud guy across the street.
Why so passionate about this??? The funeral home is a fine idea, I have no problem with it. Commercially zoned land...all legal. No problem.
But adding the crematorium???? In a residential area. AWFUL! UNTHINKABLE!
I have news for you...I worked near one for many many years...say all you want...when they burn, it smells...and smells bad.
The saying at our place was..."oh, they just fired up the BBQ". You can smell it, and it sucks.
They should offer to buy this lady's home ata fair price and help her relocate.
How is her music drifting over there, any different than their smell drifting over to her place. SAME THING!

MarkinNH · 08-24-2011, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Averial

He owns a pontoon boat, a huge motorized home and God only knows how many other toys to play with.

How does owning a boat and a motorhome and "God only knows how many other toys to play with" have any relevence to the problem you claim exhists ?

08-12-2011, 04:33 PM	#4
Skip Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Dover, NH Posts: 1,615 Thanks: 256 Thanked 514 Times in 182 Posts	A little more clarification.... Great answers jmen. Unfortunately the facts in this issue got skewed when, for whatever reason, FLL posted misinformation about the ZBA's alleged involvement. A couple of things to point out. The Funeral Home is not located in a residential neighborhood, but is in a commercial zone where the business is and was an allowable use under Meredith's zoning regulations. The complainant's home is in an abutting residential zone, but if you GoogeMap the area you will see its an area wedged between to heavy use roadways (Route 3 and Route 104) which explains why the funeral home is in a commercial zone. As the story explains, the owner of the business has secured all the required permits for the installation of the crematorium. Additionally the Meredith Code Enforcement officer reviewed the instllation and had ruled that under Meredith's zoning laws, a crematorium is an allowable use for a funeral home. Being ruled a ancillary function, the business owner was not required to appear before the Planning board nor seek a variance from the ZBA. FLL's assertion that the ZBA allowed this is false. Now, does the complainant have an avenue of appeal available to her? Yes, under State law and clearly cited in Meredith's zoning ordinance, she clearly had the right to appeal the Code Enforcement Officer's ruling to the ZBA. The ZBA then would be required to have a public hearing and make a determination on the matter. If she was unhappy with that decision and a subsequent rehearing then she has the right to appeal to the Belknap Superior Court for a final ruling. Likewise the business owner, if ruled against by the ZBA, could also appeal the decision to the Superior Court. To sum it up the business owner has followed applicable State law and secured the necessary permits, and has obtained a decision from the Meredith Code Enforcement Officer that under Meredith's current zoning regulations the addition of the crematorium is an allowed ancillary use requiring no appearance before the Planning Board. The complainant has, since May, not availed herself of her legal right to appeal to the Meredith ZBA but has chosen to protest the crematorium by attempting to harass innocent customers using the business for a legal purpose. Only the complainant can answer as to why she has chosen not to follow the appropriate course of action clearly available to her! But, as always, the Devil is in the details.....

08-12-2011, 05:09 PM	#5
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,937 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 307 Thanked 1,056 Times in 769 Posts	Say everyone, let's all have a big round of applause and a big thank you to Skip for that very informative post! Hey.....maybe I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree! As usual, I have nothing that's intelligent to say, but at least I am consistent! Now, if someone could snap a couple-three photos of that ghoulish array of front yard horror manniquins and the large info sign that lists all the carcinogens emitted from a crematorium smokestack and post the photos here, it would be appreciated! __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store! Last edited by fatlazyless; 08-12-2011 at 05:51 PM.

08-22-2011, 06:13 AM	#9
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,937 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 307 Thanked 1,056 Times in 769 Posts	Slightly off topic, but that never stopped me before. The LaDaSun had an article a couple days ago talking about the costs incurred by the City of Laconia for residents who die with no burial plans and no money. The article said Laconia used the www.WilkinsonBeane.com Funeral Home in Laconia and that it charged $750 for the most basic cremation. That sounds pretty high for what the cremation actually does. Will try to find a working link to the LaDaSun article from this past week, maybe last Wednesday or Thursday. How much for the Meredith www.MayhewFuneralhomes.com least expensive cremation? If only www.WalMart.com in Gilford or Plymouth or Tilton or Littleton or Woodsville or Conway or Gorham would get into the cremation biz! __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store! Last edited by fatlazyless; 08-22-2011 at 06:56 AM.

08-22-2011, 09:06 AM	#12
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,937 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 307 Thanked 1,056 Times in 769 Posts	Is there any difference between a code enforcement officer and a building inspector or is it just a case of semantics for defining the same job description? "Hey, the salary stinks, but the pay is great!" That's what at least one Boston building inspector used to say, back about 1978. __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store!

08-24-2011, 01:55 AM	#13
Averial Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 12 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Rebuttle to Mayhew funeral home: The funeral that this gentleman is talking about was located at Mayhew Funeral Home here in Meredith N.H. Since Mayhew installed his crematorium I have had to buy and air conditioner and two cooling tower fans as I can no longer keep my windows open and use fans to cool my home during the heat. The airconditioner makes a lot of noise and subsequently I have to keep the volume turned up on my TV and stereo player in order to hear anything. these people came across the street and told me twice to turn my volume down that they could hear my audio playing. Then a woman started walking back and forth in front of my home while talking on her cell phone, and suddenly she is down on the lower end of my home with her cell phone pointed at my home and looked to me as if she were taking a picture. I have no idea who she was, so I opend my front door and called to her, are you stalking me, or are you caseing out my home to come back later and rob me. She said,"Lady you havent a thing in there that Iwould want. I closed my door, and a few minutes later I looked out to see to large men all dressed in black walking around in my front yard on my lawn. At that point, I had enough and called out to them to get off my lawn or I was going to call the police and have them arrested. This is a private home. it does not belong to Mayhew. I do not have to shut down my life and live in complete silence everytime that he has a funeral. If you choose to have a funeral at his place you need to realize that some of us are still alive and do not have to observe the living or the dead at everyone of his funerals. Also right now while I am typing this there is a pungent spicey smell throughout my house that come in my home every time that he burns a dead body. I have complained about this numerous times and no one in the Meredith Town office will listen to me, my nose burns and my throat burns and may eyes are watering, but I am being made to endure this everytime that he burns a body over there. Now does anyone else want to step up to the plate and criticise me, I dare you to. None of you would want to have to live with what this man and his pack of theives have done to my quality of life. This is abuse of the elderly. I am 71 years old.

08-12-2011, 06:01 AM	#1
jrc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NH Posts: 2,689 Thanks: 33 Thanked 439 Times in 249 Posts	Why would the ZBA be involved? The business is in an area zoned for that type of business. You only need the ZBA, when you bend or break the zoning rules, you don't need their permission too follow the rules.

The Following User Says Thank You to Argie's Wife For This Useful Post:
fatlazyless (08-24-2011)

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08-24-2011, 02:25 AM	#14
Greene's Basin Girl Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Moultonborough, NH Posts: 1,515 Thanks: 394 Thanked 527 Times in 269 Posts	I do feel sorry for you. I would not want to live next to a crematorium---not now--not ever. I don't think I would ever want to be cremated after reading about what takes place. I think I'd rather be thrown in the graveyard on L. Winnipeasukee and be devoured by some fish.

08-24-2011, 02:54 AM	#15
Averial Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 12 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Mayhew Funeral Home Thankyou so much for your kind words. I just E-Mailed my friend Peg O'Conor in Laconia. No one believes me when I say that I can smell this stuff. I am getting so depressed by all of this. I woke my son who lives with me and he can smell it to. My eyes are watering, my nose and my throat burn. Mayhew burned a body yesterday and I think that at night the air is heavier and it settles in my chimney and goes throughout my house. I don't want to go out in my yard when he burns a body. I am 71 years old, a retired RN who cared for the elderly for 37 and 1/2 years and thought that upon my retireing I could work outside in the summer in my gardens and have a little enjoyment of my home. I feel like Mayhew has not only robbed me of the value of my home but also of my quality of life. to me this is abuse of the elderly. No one at the town office in Meredith will listen to me. I have contacted a lawyer that has told me that when I go to sell my home then maybe I can do something about this. In the meantime I am just supposed to put up with the smell and hopefully drop dead soon. I have heart problems and arthritis, and have to live with pain and reduced energy level. This is all wrong. Mayhew says he had to put it in because he wasn't makeing enough profit. Well thanks Mayhew, you just robbed me of my home value and my quality of life. My son who has had an accident and is not well lives with me and now when he gets up in the morning and sits on the couch and looks out the picture window he sees Mayhews huge Crematory Chimmney, he battled Cancer for a year and is now in remission. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. Neighbors should have to suffer so that Mayhew can make a profit. He owns a pontoon boat, a huge motorized home and God only knows how many other toys to play with. I have lost all respect for the man and at this point, the entire Mayhew family.

08-24-2011, 06:39 AM	#16
martbri7 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 160 Thanks: 27 Thanked 83 Times in 17 Posts	The airconditioner makes a lot of noise and subsequently I have to keep the volume turned up on my TV and stereo player in order to hear anything. these people came across the street and told me twice to turn my volume down that they could hear my audio playing She asked you to turn down the music because you had sounds of chains dragging across the ground ...and halloweenish sounds....when we first arrived...thank you for at least changing the selection of music...but your speakers were outside so I'm confused by some of your points

08-24-2011, 08:01 AM	#17
Averial Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 12 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Mayhew Funeral Home You must be confused. Do not and I say do not sent anymore of you people over here to try and rough handle me

08-24-2011, 08:19 AM	#18
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,937 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 307 Thanked 1,056 Times in 769 Posts	Winnipesaukee.com has a lot of different forum names and Averial is a new one here, so WELCOME to this forum, and it's great to hear from the opposing opinions on this hot & smelly issue! __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store!

08-24-2011, 09:13 AM	#19
Jmo77011 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 86 Thanks: 60 Thanked 21 Times in 19 Posts	Disgusting. She asked you to turn down the music because you had sounds of chains dragging across the ground ...and halloweenish sounds....when we first arrived...thank you for at least changing the selection of music...but your speakers were outside so I'm confused by some of your points[/QUOTE] If this is true, than it is in extremely poor taste and you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. While I sympathize with your plight, I feel that there is never a good excuse to be disrespectful at a funeral, ever. I hope that you are able to work things out through the proper channels in the future. Perhaps joining together with your fellow neighbors would be a good place to start.

08-24-2011, 11:09 AM	#21
jrc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NH Posts: 2,689 Thanks: 33 Thanked 439 Times in 249 Posts	People must be dropping like flies in Meredith, how many funerals does this place do?

08-24-2011, 11:47 AM	#22
SAMIAM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 2,924 Thanks: 350 Thanked 1,693 Times in 595 Posts	This is getting bad....men in black sneaking around her house. And now we find out that Mayhew has a pontoon boat??? How dare he? I have a solution.....since her son does not appear to be working, perhaps he could get a job at Mayhews since it is right across the street. They are fair people and would be willing to give an employee discount should she ever need his services. Can't we all just get along?

08-24-2011, 12:04 PM	#23
Averial Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 12 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Mayhew Funeral Home The reason I mentioned the Pontoon Boat and Motorized Home is because Peter Mayhews excuse to me for putting in the crematorium right under his neighbor's noses was because he was not makeing enough profit. Well it sounds to me like he is makeing quite a bit of profit.He told me that he didn't feel that he had to tell me about his plans because he knew that I would not like liveing right across from dead bodies burning all the time. This place has very few funerals, but he cremates for other funeral homes north of him. He has got to pay for this thing somehow. He has always felt like he owns this street, even the day that one of his customers almost ran over my little granddaughter and when my daughter confronted him with the fact that he needed to have a little control of his customers and keep them off from my front lawn, his relply was "That's not my problem, I have no control over how my customers drive or where they park. He is a charmer

08-24-2011, 12:11 PM	#24
sa meredith Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 986 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 32 Thanked 352 Times in 137 Posts	other side Let me play devil's advocate here for a second. 1st of all...we can all play "holier than thou" if we want to, but NOT A SINGLE MEMBER OF THIS FORUM would be happy if this situation took place next door to them. I believe the old saying is, "Yes, but not in MY back yard". Anyway...back to devils advocate. Suppose it was me. Should I be respectful of a grieving family during a wake, as people enter and leave the funeral home? Well, of course. However, if a wake happens to be scheduled on the same day I planned a major, all out, booze infested rip out, party of the summer, complete with a live outdoor band...well, too freakin' bad for them. It has to work both ways. I would walk over and say..."hey, your wake is really bringing down the spirit of my guests. Could you move things along a bit?" Tit for tat. No grey area here. If fact, in this case, she could say..."well I was here first, and before you chose this site for your business, you should have realized I am a very loud, obnoxious drunk. Leave if you want to". With very little effort, I am quite sure I could get this funeral home a reputation of a place that people should simply not hire, for their arraigments. It would be known as the place with the loud guy across the street. Why so passionate about this??? The funeral home is a fine idea, I have no problem with it. Commercially zoned land...all legal. No problem. But adding the crematorium???? In a residential area. AWFUL! UNTHINKABLE! I have news for you...I worked near one for many many years...say all you want...when they burn, it smells...and smells bad. The saying at our place was..."oh, they just fired up the BBQ". You can smell it, and it sucks. They should offer to buy this lady's home ata fair price and help her relocate. How is her music drifting over there, any different than their smell drifting over to her place. SAME THING!

The Following User Says Thank You to sa meredith For This Useful Post:
Averial (08-24-2011)