Snellville defers action on crematory issues

The Snellville City Council postponed voting on two issues related to a controversial crematory Monday night.

Council members delayed taking action on an air-quality control ordinance pending an unofficial opinion from the state Attorney General’s Office. Councilwoman Kelly Kautz, who drafted the ordinance that would regulate bio-waste incinerators such as crematories, said the state wouldn’t have an opinion for a few weeks.

In addition, the City Council delayed weighing in following an appeals board decision to revoke the operating licenses of Cremation Society of the South. The board ruled that the building plan submitted by the crematory in 2006 differed substantially from the actual business that opened Sept. 2 at U.S. 78 and Abington Drive.

The City Council, which was expected to vote Monday night on whether to accept those plan changes, decided to hold off. The attorney for crematory owner Chris Nuzum — in a letter sent to the city attorney last week — asked the City Council not “to inject itself into a legal process which has already begun” and was prepared to file a lawsuit against the city if it took action.

Council members are expected to take up both issues again at the Nov. 10 meeting.