Amid ‘green burial’ dispute, judge rejects Michigan township’s cemetery ban

• Officials in Brooks Township responded to a proposed ‘green burial’ cemetery by banning all cemeteries in the community
• Peter and Annica Quakenbush responded with a lawsuit, and a judge sided with them Thursday
• It’s the latest in a string of disputes over an increasingly popular end-of-life option

A west Michigan couple seeking to perform “green burials” near Newaygo declared victory on Thursday, after a judge rejected a township’s attempt to ban all cemeteries in hopes of keeping the green cemetery out.

“Michigan law does not allow a municipality to completely ban a land use, especially a land use that is a human necessity, like a cemetery,” said Katrin Marquez, an attorney with the libertarian-leaning nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice in Virginia who represents the couple.

“People won’t stop dying just because the township doesn’t want them buried there,” Marquez added.

Newaygo County Circuit Judge David Glancy rejected Brooks Township’s attempt to throw out a lawsuit against the ordinance, brought by Grand Rapids residents Annica and Peter Quakenbush.

As of Thursday afternoon, no written order was publicly available, but the online case docket noted that Glancy has directed the Quakenbushes’ attorneys to prepare an order reflecting his ruling.

Related:

• ‘Green burials’ catch on in Michigan. Cemetery controversy follows
• Green burials, ash jewelry are a thing now in Michigan. Can state law adjust?

Lawyers for the Quakenbushes said Glancy also went a step further, declaring the cemetery ban to be unconstitutional.  

Brooks Township supervisor Cory Nelson said he was disappointed with the ruling, and that officials will appeal.

“First and foremost and always for me and the board is to protect the clean water of the city of Brooks Township, he said. “It’s a big deal. I’m sure decades ago Wolverine (the shoe company responsible for widespread PFAS pollution on West Michigan) didn’t think they were polluting the ground.”

“Apparently this judge thinks he’s the super zoning administrator,” Nelson said. He said he is not opposed to green burial cemeteries, but argued rural Brooks Township is not the place for them.

'A major cultural shift'

The legal dispute stems from the Quakenbushes’ quest to establish the West Michigan Burial Forest on 20 acres near the Manistee National Forest. 

There, they want to perform modest burials without concrete vaults, toxic embalming chemicals or manicured graveyards. Instead, bodies would be allowed to naturally decompose in a forest protected from development.  

The idea, Annica Quakenbush told Bridge in April, “came from an impassioned (sense that) there needs to be a major cultural shift in how death works, and how we deal with the dead.”

But after neighbors complained about the plan, township officials responded by banning all cemeteries. 

Health department inspectors had visited the property and found no issues with siting a cemetery there. The couple contended the land is “ideal for a burial forest” because it is high and dry.

Still, township officials declared the ban “essential for the health, safety and welfare of Brooks Township property owners, residents and visitors.”

Beyond his concerns about water quality in the nearby Muskegon River and area drinking water wells, Nelson said, siting a cemetery on the property would require pricey road improvements and other upgrades.  

“Who’s gonna pay for the road to be improved? What if they go bankrupt? What if that forest catches on fire? These are all questions that are completely valid."

Similar disputes are playing out across the country, as consumers seek a more eco-conscious option for their final rite of passage and local governments are left to regulate an unfamiliar practice with little state or federal guidance.

At least one state has temporarily banned new cemeteries that offer green burials, while some Michigan communities have embraced it and reaped financial gains from customers rushing to purchase plots.

Michigan has become something of a hub, with at least 16 cemeteries offering green burial.  

In Brooks Township, the Quakenbushes felt they were being singled out. With help from the Institute for Justice, they filed a lawsuit contending the township’s cemetery ban illegally restricts land use.

County lawyers responded by asking a judge to dismiss the case. 

This week’s ruling doesn’t necessarily end the fight. In order to open a green cemetery, the Quakenbushes would still need to seek local permits. 

Peter Quakenbush said he’s waiting for “the dust to settle” for now, but “I'm excited about being able to move forward again.”