County, pastor urged to solve dispute
A Fayette County judge on Thursday encouraged the county and the pastor of a North Union Township church to continue working together to resolve a yearlong dispute about where the pastor’s son is buried. “We are mindful of your pain, but certainly you understand that the court has to follow the law,” Judge Nancy D. Vernon said, extending her sympathy to the Rev. Ewing Marietta on the July 15, 2009, death of his son, Marcus.
Marietta said if he could take over the overrun Auburn Cemetery in Dunbar Township, where his family has a plot, he would consider moving his son’s remains there from the grounds of Liberty Baptist Church, where he is the pastor.
His attorney, Mark Rowan, said the process is under way, but is moving slowly.
The 18-year-old died in a car accident on Route 40. He was on his way home from football camp.
While the family owns a plot in the Auburn Cemetery, Marietta said previously it was in disrepair and overrun with vehicles from a neighboring junkyard.
Last year, Marietta buried his son’s body on church property.
However, the church land is not a cemetery, and Marietta did not seek permission to bury his son there.
A county zoning officer filed a complaint, and Magisterial District Judge Wendy fined Marietta $5,071 earlier this year for improperly burying his son. Marietta appealed the fine to Common Pleas Court.
Scheduled for Thursday, the hearing was delayed because Rowan told Vernon that Marietta was exploring his options to take over maintenance of Auburn Cemetery.
However, Rowan said the process is moving slowly because there aren’t clear rules about how to do that. After the hearing, Rowan said the group that maintained the cemetery dissolved, which is partially how it fell into disrepair.
“It just wasn’t proper for burials,” Rowan said.
Additionally, junked cars from a neighboring property have left the cemetery a mess. County solicitor Sheryl Heid said that the county has moved to file zoning enforcement against the owner of the junkyard.
Heid agreed to a delay of the hearing, but asked that it not be continued for longer than 60 days.
“We are not trying to be insensitive to this very important issue + but an entire year has passed without any resolution,” Heid said.
Vernon rescheduled the hearing for Oct. 19.
After county officials found that Marietta had buried his son at the church, he petitioned the zoning hearing board for a special exception to use the church grounds as a cemetery for his congregants.
That special exception was denied this year.
Marietta also has a separate appeal pending on that matter.