Funeral Complex OKd in Corona

Despite protests from scores of residents, the Corona City Council voted late Wednesday to allow a crematorium and mortuary to be built next to a residential neighborhood in the south part of town.

The unanimous vote was cast after the council listened to four hours of public testimony, mostly against the proposal to build a 16,222-square-foot mortuary and crematorium.

Council members, who were threatened with being recalled in the days leading up to the hearing, recognized the contentious nature of the vote.

“No matter what we vote, I guarantee you that we are going to upset a lot of you,” Councilwoman Karen Spiegel said before the 5-0 vote.

The approval allows Thomas Miller Mortuary to build the facility, designed to look like a European garden house, on about two acres in south Corona. In exchange, the mortuary has agreed to turn the adjacent 4 1/2 acres into a community park.

Chris Miller, general manager of the mortuary, said he had been confident the council would make the right decision and looks forward to breaking ground on the park in January or February.

“It was emotional for everybody. It’s been a long haul,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for three years. I just want to have it over with.”

Though a few residents who live near the site supported the project because they will get a park they have sought for years, most opposed it because of concerns about emissions, odor, ash and noise.

Brent Wheeler, who lives nearby and appealed the Planning Commission’s approval of the project to the City Council, said that citizens were shut out of the planning process and that he was not surprised by the vote. The South Corona Political Action Committee, an organization that was formed to fight the proposal, is still debating what to do next.

“It seemed like we got informed really late and missed out on the opportunity to make an impact,” Wheeler said. “Our group ... is taking a couple days’ break and then will reconvene next week and decide if we want to move forward with legal action or not.”