Crematory fight finally comes to end

Snellville’s nearly yearlong crematory saga has been laid to rest.

City leaders on Monday night reached a settlement with Chris Nuzum, whose crematory touched off a thunderstorm of protest last summer when it moved into a residential neighborhood just blocks from South Gwinnett High School.

The settlement, which includes a cash payment of $120,000 from the city’s insurer GIRMA to Nuzum, effectively closes the book on one of the biggest controversies in Snellville history. The City Council gave final approval to the deal in a Monday night vote.

“We believe the settlement … allows my client to move forward with his business … and allows the city to move forward and put behind it a problem —- a problem not caused by my client,” Kevin Moore, Nuzum’s attorney, said Monday.

Moore would not offer details on the settlement and City Council members would not comment. Under the settlement, Nuzum agreed to remove crematorial equipment from the house within six months and then sell the property. The city also is expected to rezone the property to prevent any other crematory from moving in.

“That lawsuit is over,” Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer said.

During the past year, the controversy has stirred intense debate among residents and city leaders. It even triggered a state law preventing crematories from within 1,000 feet of residential subdivisions. That law goes into effect July 1.

Last July, residents learned Cremation Society of the South was setting up shop in a house at U.S. 78 and Abington Drive. For weeks, hundreds of homeowners packed City Hall in protest, expressing numerous conerns.When asked Monday how he felt about the settlement, Larry Finney, who lives “exactly 278 feet” from the facility, said, “Happy.”

The crematory appeared to catch city leaders by surprise. Officials thought the location would be used as an office for lawyers or Realtors. Even so, they said, their hands were tied. The property had been rezoned in 2006 to office professional, which didn’t exclude crematories.

As the controversy swirled, so did the finger-pointing, council infighting, zoning inquiries and environmental impact studies. But efforts to stop the crematory from opening proved futile. Nuzum met city and state requirements for his business and despite a chorus of protests to city officials, he opened the operation Sept. 2.

In mid-October, the city revoked his operating licenses, shuttering his business after an appeals board ruling over building plans.

Nuzum fought back in November. He sued for unspecified damages and demanded the return of his licenses. Meanwhile, Councilwoman Kelly Kautz drafted an air quality control ordinance to monitor crematory emissions. The state attorney general recently threw cold water on the ordinance, saying it was pre-empted by the Georgia Air Quality Act.