A group of Woodland Hills residents is kicking back after a new property owner took over a beloved tree nursery with plans to turn the sprawling property into a cemetery.Boething's Treeland Nursery has been a city staple for more than 70 years, sitting on 32 acres of land near the city's border with the West Hills and Hidden Hills communities. Now, sudden plans to turn the land into a cemetery have drawn both support and opposition from the public, who have a list of concerns, including what the potential traffic impact could be....
A group of Woodland Hills residents is kicking back after a new property owner took over a beloved tree nursery with plans to turn the sprawling property into a cemetery.
Boething's Treeland Nursery has been a city staple for more than 70 years, sitting on 32 acres of land near the city's border with the West Hills and Hidden Hills communities. Now, sudden plans to turn the land into a cemetery have drawn both support and opposition from the public, who have a list of concerns, including what the potential traffic impact could be.
Anthony Lampe is the marketing director for Dignity Memorial, who will be taking over the land.
"Most of the time, the services are happening during the daytime hours, not during commute hours," Lampe said. "We have control over the schedules ourselves to make sure that we don't impact the traffic any more than we would have to."
They say that the change is supported by the Boething family, as well as other residents in the community.
"Just in terms of long-term, a cemetery is going to be there for a while, whereas a developer may change their mind and sell it in a few years," said Jennifer Beizaie, a resident in support of the change.
Though some have voiced their support, not everyone is happy about the proposed transformation. Bob and Jill Dyck's backyard backs up to the edge of the land where the cemetery is planned. They started collecting signatures for a petition from their neighbors who hope to stop the development.
"There's some people in the neighborhood who have religious objections to it, that's one issue," Bob Dyck said. "We do have some neighbors who have small children; there's a fright scare factor associated. ... We have neighbors who really have a real phobia about the cemetery."
Lampe says that he understands the community concerns, but cemeteries are much quieter than new stores or homes.
"We want to be good neighbors and fit in the community," he said. "We will be very cognizant of the perimeter of the facility and how we build out the landscaping and setbacks off the perimeter."
He says that construction isn't slated to begin until 2026 as they work to test and survey the land to make sure it's ready for trees, grass and other necessary landscaping.