On Tuesday, October 31, 2017, the Montgomery County Council adopted legislation to protect burial sites within the County as advocated for and reported by the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites.
On October 31, the Montgomery County Council unanimously enacted two pieces of legislation to help protect burial sites in Montgomery County. Burial sites will now be listed in an official inventory that covers all of Montgomery County, including municipalities, and all cemeteries within the County’s planning and zoning jurisdiction will be identified and protected during the subdivision and development process.
Bill 24-17 gives status to the existing Montgomery County Cemetery Inventory and requires the Planning Board to maintain the inventory. It is currently a database of over 300 burials largely cataloged by citizens and volunteers a decade ago. Montgomery Preservation (MPI), which led the current effort for this legislation, is launching a year-long project to visit and update all known cemeteries and nominate others for the list. MPI will offer training sessions for those with an interest in helping add new locations to the database.
Preservation Maryland applauds the Montgomery County Council for taking the steps to protect burial sites as historic resources and we thank Montgomery Preservation and the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites for all of their hard work. Preservation Maryland and the Coalition have partnered together to update the Coalitions website, support their advocacy and outreach efforts, and to coordinate volunteer work at Maryland cemeteries.