A graveyard within San Antonio city limits is nothing new — only because most of them are old.
Cemeteries like San Fernando Cemetery No. 1 and a collection of cemeteries on the East Side go back decades and even centuries, and predate state laws that came later and changed where a cemetery could be built.
In 2023, those rules were altered again when the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 783 allowing cemeteries to once again be established within city limits.
Now a Houston-based provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services is eyeing land on the South Side, leading area homeowners and officials to ask questions about what can be done.
Service Corporation International (SCI) is in talks to buy an 80-acre parcel of land to establish the funeral home and cemetery, Funeraria del Angel. The wedge-shaped property is located across U.S. Highway 281 from the Mission del Lago neighborhood, between that roadway and Farm-to-Market Road 1947 (South Flores Street).
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On Monday, residents of Mission del Lago who have started a petition against those plans will meet with representatives from SCI, which also owns a cemetery near Oakwell Farms on the city’s North Side and the Neptune crematory service.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Julian C. Gallardo Elementary School.
In the meantime, District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran has asked city staff to look at how future cemeteries within the city limits are zoned and planned.
Property values
Maryann Smith and her partner moved from Seattle last year in search of a place with a warm climate where they could retire. They bought the new Lennar-built home in Mission del Lago for its wheelchair accessibility and proximity to trails, bird-watching and the golf course.
When Smith tried to sell the condominium unit she owned in Seattle, she learned that her home’s nearby “amenities” — a term she used to describe a large cemetery, marijuana dispensary and strip club — reduced its property value by about 13%.
“I got the benefit of that when I bought, but I also suffered when I sold,” she said.
Now with most of her savings tied up in the new house, Smith is reluctant to see the same thing happen again and has started gathering signatures from residents who are opposed to it.
She’s also disappointed to see land that could be developed for residential uses, and the tax dollars it would generate that would support the school district and public services in the area, become a cemetery exempt from property taxes.
The property owned by SCI for its Sunset Memorial Park cemetery, assessed at $13.6 million, is exempt from all property taxes, according to county tax records.
Mission del Lago homeowner Robert Burnett also worries about the cemetery bringing more traffic to the area and creating a secluded space for “unsavory conduct.”
“While they do serve an important service for grieving families, it will be better suited elsewhere,” he said. “I am not against cemeteries, I’m just against one in this location.”
Special use rezoning
In October, SCI requested through land use attorney James McKnight that the property be rezoned, through a special use authorization, that would allow the cemetery to be built at 13279 FM 1937.
The property is currently in a residential zoning district that allows for a variety of housing types with moderate to high density.
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In addition to state laws limiting where cemeteries could be built, the City of San Antonio has since 1965 had in place an ordinance requiring city council approval for new cemeteries along with other rules.
Michael Shannon, director of the city’s development services department, described the process in a recent council Planning and Community Development Committee meeting.
In most major Texas cities, the Unified Development Code states that the council can approve a special use authorization for a cemetery in most single-family, multi-family and commercial zoning districts.
But Viagran said that given the new law and growth in her district, the city might need to take a closer look at that process and consider putting parameters around what’s allowed in terms of acreage, traffic impact and proximity to neighborhoods and schools.
“I wanted to make sure that, because everything seems to be moving south and we have the land space, we understand how we’re going to move forward with cemeteries that fall within the city limits,” she said.
Viagran also said it’s important to consider where cemeteries are built with regard to where people bury their dead and access to the cemetery without an undue burden in terms of travel time and cost.
SCI’s choice of locations is strategic in that way, said Evan Wagner, real estate manager at SCI.
“For cemeteries to be successful, they need to be part of communities,” Wagner said. “We’re trying to establish a legacy here. We want these people to feel comfortable that they would want generations of their family to be buried here, not have to drive out 20 miles south.”
SCI’s plans call for a funeral home on about three acres of the property and a cemetery project and cremation garden on the rest, Wagner said.
The site won’t have a crematorium or prepare bodies for burial.
“People don’t like thinking about death, but it is an essential part of the community,” Wagner said.
‘Friendliest neighbors’
Wagner said he’s aware of articles like one by the real estate site, Realtor.com, that state cemeteries negatively affect the property values of homes in close proximity.
San Antonio realtor Danny Charbel said in his experience that is true. He once showed a home to a client that met all the buyer’s requirements. But it faced a cemetery, a fact the potential new homeowner couldn’t get past.
“A buyer’s perception of value is not as high as an identical property that does not have some kind of relationship with a cemetery,” he said. “Me personally, I would probably opt for the one that’s not near the cemetery, even though the neighbors are louder.”
Realtor Daniel Nguyen who has a listing in Mission del Lago said cemeteries typically only affect property values if it’s directly next to homes or highly visible from the community.
Increased traffic could be a concern, he added, an issue that could be mitigated with planning.
But studies by SCI have demonstrated property values are not at all affected by cemeteries, Wagner said.
“When it comes to neighbors, we’re a park, essentially,” he said. “It’s green space. We’re low impact on utilities. We’re not a big warehouse or big retail center that creates a lot of traffic. So as far as commercial uses can go, we’re about the friendliest neighbors you can hope for.”
In October, the Zoning Commission recommended approving the request to rezone. The case is set to go before City Council on Feb. 6.
Smith said she hoped that letters from the neighborhood association, the school district and a funeral industry group objecting to the cemetery project would sway officials to decline the request. But if it gets built, she has nowhere else to go.
“I have invested way too much in my home making modifications to make it accessible for my partner,” she said. “If I want to leave, it’s going to cost thousands [of dollars] to recreate what I created here to make my forever home.”