Orono panel revises cemetery rules to allow leashed dogs, ban overnight camping and demonstrations

Orono’s Ordinance Review Committee on June 17 advanced a set of redline changes to the town’s cemetery ordinance intended to align regulations with day-to-day operations and future trail and gathering-area improvements.

Town Clerk Shelley Crosby, who led the update, said the draft changes (largely on pages 8–10 of the redline) recast the town’s approach to pets, alcohol, vehicles, monuments and enforcement. "No dog shall be permitted to run at large and must be under the owner's complete control while in the cemetery. Dogs which cause any type of disturbance shall be removed," she said, explaining that the town now anticipates the cemetery functioning as a quieter community gathering place rather than a place to exclude pets entirely.

The revisions would also "prohibit the bringing to and the use of alcohol and/or illegal substances within the cemetery," Crosby said, and would add the sentence, "There shall be no overnight camping, parking, or sleeping within the cemetery grounds," to prevent encampments along new trails. Crosby and cemetery superintendent Mike Smarf said those changes respond to anticipated trail use and to operational experience.

The draft includes new language forbidding the removal of items left by others and clarifies firearms rules: firearms would be prohibited to be carried openly in cemetery grounds except for a military service exception. Crosby described monument permitting changes aimed at preventing installation of inadequate bases, saying the town has encountered contractors using base material that fails when grave digging occurs; the committee discussed minimum base expectations (Crosby said the practice had been to require solid concrete bases and she described four-foot bases in the discussion).

Members also discussed wording for enforcement. Committee members suggested replacing a currently drafted line about barring future business with a clearer phrase that violators "may lose the privilege of obtaining a permit." Crosby said she would make that revision and noted the committee could request a legal review of the ordinance before it goes to council for a public hearing.

On timing, committee members agreed it would be appropriate to call for the public hearing at the July meeting and schedule the public hearing in August, with Crosby preparing a brief memo or packet for the council at the public hearing stage. No formal vote to adopt the ordinance was taken at the session; the committee’s next step is the public hearing process and possible legal review of selected language.

The committee emphasized balancing new amenities (benches, platforms and trail connections) that encourage family use with provisions to preserve the cemetery’s quiet and dignity. Crosby said receptacles and dog-waste bags could be added near trails to support compliance with cleanup and leash expectations already present elsewhere in town rules.

The committee adjourned the cemetery discussion after confirming the public hearing timeline and minor redlines; the matter will return to the council for the public hearing and any subsequent vote.