CHAPTER 21.
Parks and Cemeteries.[369]
§ 21-1. Superintendent—Appointment.
§ 21-2. Same—Powers and duties generally; obstructing.
§ 21-3. Same—Record of burials.
§ 21-4. Mapping and selling grave spaces.
§ 21-5. Deeds to spaces in cemeteries.
§ 21-6. Burial of paupers.
§ 21-7. Charges for keeping sections or spaces in order.
§ 21-8. Perpetual care of sections or spaces; fund.
§ 21-9. Perpetual care cemetery commission.
§ 21-10. Depth of graves; care in digging; notice to superintendent.
§ 21-11. Charges for grave space and digging graves.
§ 21-12. Care of graves of war veterans.
§ 21-13. Keepers of cemeteries to make weekly reports.
§ 21-14. Trespassing or destroying property in cemeteries, parks, etc.
Sec. 21-1. Superintendent—Appointment.
The city manager shall appoint, subject to the approval of
the city council, a superintendent of parks and cemeteries,
who shall have special charge of the public parks and cemeteries
and of all property of the city in and about the same.
(Code 1959, § 21-1.)
Sec. 21-2. Same—Powers and duties generally; obstructing.[370]
The superintendent of parks and cemeteries shall employ,
subject to the approval of the city manager, such help as may
be needed for the proper maintenance and operation of the
same. He and his deputies shall have all the powers of a
member of the city police force within the parks and cemeteries
over which he has jurisdiction, and within one quarter
of a mile thereof. He shall enforce such rules and regulations
as may be prescribed by the city council or the city manager and
shall keep order and preserve the peace therein. Anyone obstructing
or hindering the superintendent of parks and cemeteries
in the discharge of his duty shall be punished as provided
in section 1-5. (Code 1959, § 21-2.)
Sec. 21-3. Same—Record of burials.
The superintendent of parks and cemeteries shall keep a record
of each cemetery according to plats prepared by the city engineer,
showing the name, lot and section number, grave and date of
interment of every person buried in such cemetery. (Code 1959, §
21-3.)
Sec. 21-4. Mapping and selling grave spaces.
The superintendent shall sell the spaces as shown on city
cemetery maps prepared and dated prior to January 1, 1939,
which are on file in the office of the city engineer and recorded in
the office of the clerk of the corporation court, at such prices as
may be fixed from time to time by the city council.
The city engineer shall prepare three maps of each cemetery
and addition thereto that may be plotted or established after
January 1, 1939, so as to enable the superintendent of parks and
cemeteries to make sales of grave spaces and properly describe
the same. One map shall be kept by the city engineer, one map
shall be kept by the superintendent of parks and cemeteries and
one map shall be recorded in the clerk's office of the corporation
court. The superintendent of parks and cemeteries shall sell the
grave spaces as shown on such maps at such prices as may be
fixed from time to time by the city council. (Code 1959, § 21-4.)
Sec. 21-5. Deeds to spaces in cemeteries.
The mayor shall have authority and it shall be his duty to
convey in the name and on behalf of the city to any purchaser
thereof any space in any cemetery of the city to which the city has
a clear title, provided the following is properly executed:
"WHEREAS, the director of finance has received the full
purchase price of the property hereby conveyed as is evidenced by
his signature hereto.
"NOW, THEREFORE, THIS DEED, by and between the CITY
OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, hereinafter referred to as
the City, and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hereinafter referred to as
the owner;
"WITNESSETH: That for and in consideration of the sum of
$ . . . . . . . . . . cash in hand paid by the owner to the city,
the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, as well as the
covenants and agreements hereinafter made by the owner, the
city does hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey, with GENERAL
WARRANTY of title unto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . owner, those
certain lots or parcels of land in said city, designated on a plat of
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cemetery as grave space . . . . in block
number . . . . . . ., Division . . . . . ., said plat being filed and
recorded as is provided by law.
"As a part of the consideration for this deed, it is mutually
agreed as follows:
"(1) This deed may be recorded in the clerk's office of the
corporation court by and at the expense of the owner, and the city
shall not permit the interment of any person in said space without
the consent of the owner of the legal title to said space, or his
heirs or personal representative.
"(2) Said space shall be subject to the control and management
of the city and shall be subject to any laws, ordinances or
resolutions of the city council which may be passed or adopted for
the management, government or improvement of the cemetery in
which the space is located.
"(3) The above purchase price will be deposited by the city in
the "Perpetual Care Fund" and said space shall be perpetually
cared for by the city in accordance with such rules and
regulations as may now or hereafter be provided for the perpetual
care of the sections and spaces in the cemeteries of said city.
"In testimony whereof, the city has caused this deed to be
executed by its Mayor, with its corporate seal affixed, attested by
its clerk, and the director of finance and owner have hereunto
subscribed their respective names, this the . . . . . . . day of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 19 . . . . . . . . . .."
(SEAL)
ATTEST
City of Charlottesville,
By .............................................
Mayor
.............................................
Director of Finance
.............................................
Owner"
(Code 1959, § 21-5; 8-17-70.)
Sec. 21-6. Burial of paupers.[371]
The city council shall designate such portion of Oakwood
Cemetery as may be necessary for the interment or burial of
paupers. (Code 1959, § 21-7.)
Sec. 21-7. Charges for keeping sections or spaces in order.
Every owner of a section or part of a section in any cemetery in
the city, plotted and mapped prior to January 1, 1939, shall pay
annually, in advance, to the director of finance on the first day of
April the following fees for keeping such sections in good
condition, viz:
For a whole section, eight dollars;
Half section, five dollars;
Quarter section, two dollars and fifty cents;
One-eighth section, one dollar and fifty cents. (Code 1959, §
21-8.)
Sec. 21-8. Perpetual care of sections or spaces; fund.
There shall be established a fund to be known as "a fund for the
perpetual care of sections or spaces in the cemeteries, now or
hereafter owned or controlled by the City of Charlottesville."
Any owner or other party in interest may deposit with the
director of finance the sum of ten dollars per grave space to
provide for the perpetual care of the space.
Such sums so deposited shall be entered upon the records of the
city to the credit of the above-described fund in the name of the
party paying the same, and shall so stand to the credit of such
account as long as this arrangement may be in effect.
The city shall keep such grave space as shall have been
deposited for in good condition, that is to say, they shall be kept in
good sod and the grass shall be kept in shape, except that the city
shall not be held liable for the deterioration of the stones or
markers caused by erosion.
Should the city, at any time, discontinue the control and
supervision of the several cemeteries, then such fund shall be
transmitted to its successors or returned to the person or estate
paying such sums into the fund. (Code 1959, § 21-9.)
Sec. 21-9. Perpetual care cemetery commission.
There shall be a perpetual care cemetery commission who shall
be custodian of the perpetual care fund. The commission shall be
composed of the mayor, the city treasurer, the director of finance
and the chairman of the finance committee of the city council. It
shall be the duty of the commission to properly invest the fund
and to turn into the treasury, annually, on the last day of the
fiscal year, the income accruing from such fund. (Code 1959, § 2110.)
Sec. 21-10. Depth of graves; care in digging; notice to superintendent.
Each grave shall not be less than five feet in depth. No
interment shall be made which shall disturb the remains of the
dead, or which shall displace or injure any monument or stone
placed over a grave. All persons desiring to have a grave opened
shall notify the superintendent of parks and cemeteries at least
twenty-four hours before the interment and shall designate the
space which is to be used. (Code 1959, § 21-11.)
Sec. 21-11. Charges for grave space and digging graves.
The following charges shall be made for grave spaces in
Oakwood Cemetery: In Divisions H, J, K and L, thirty-five
dollars for each space; in Division G, twenty-five dollars for each
space. All sums so paid shall be deposited in the fund described in
section 21-8.
The following charges shall be made for digging graves:
1. Where the outside case is three feet or less in length $15.00
2. Where the outside case exceeds three feet in length 40.00
Unless a concrete or steel vault is furnished on behalf of a
person to be buried the city shall furnish a concrete box at a cost
of forty dollars. Wooden boxes shall not be permitted.
The above fees or cost shall be payable in advance unless
guaranteed by some responsible person. (Code 1959, § 21-12; 9-2666;
8-17-70.)
Sec. 21-12. Care of graves of war veterans.
The superintendent of parks and cemeteries is directed to take
care of graves of soldiers who served in the War between the
States, the Spanish-American War, the World Wars and the
Korean War, wherever there is a marker or inscription to identify
them, at the expense of the city, where no provision has been
made for their upkeep. (Code 1959, § 21-13.)
Sec. 21-13. Keepers of cemeteries to make weekly reports.
Every keeper or other person or officer in charge of any
cemetery or burial ground within the city shall make a weekly
report to the health officer of the number of bodies buried by him
during the preceding week. (Code 1959, § 21-14.)
Sec. 21-14. Trespassing or destroying property in cemeteries,
parks, etc.[372]
No person shall break, injure or destroy any monument,
gravestone or marker, shrub, plant or tree in the cemeteries or
parks in the city, or any property appertaining thereto, or
unlawfully trespass in any manner on the grounds. (Code 1959, §
21-15.)
