Dudley, MA

In June 2016, the Dudley, MA Zoning Board denied the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester's request for a cemetery permit on 55 acres of farmland, citing special-tax status and legal standing issues. According to the Board, the property owner had not notified the town before the sale, violating the right of first refusal. The Islamic Society sued Dudley, alleging "prejudicial treatment," prompting a Department of Justice investigation. The case drew national attention. In December 2016, an agreement allowed a 6-acre cemetery with a 10-year expansion moratorium. In April 2017, the Islamic Society withdrew the project due to financial issues and sought burial sites at Worcester’s Hope Cemetery.

Sofia Fonti

2016

The Islamic Society of Greater Worcester hopes to build a Muslim cemetery with 16,000 burial plots on 55 acres of vacant farmland off Corbin Road.

After the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester sued the town of Dudley, MA, and the Department of Justice launched its investigation, an agreement was reached allowing a permit for a 6-acre Muslim cemetery with a 10-year moratorium on expansion.

In January 2016, the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester applied to the Dudley Zoning Board of Appeals for a special use permit to build a cemetery with up to 16,000 burial plots on 55 acres of vacant farmland. The town’s zoning regulations allowed for cemetery use with a special permit in the agricultural zone. In the weeks leading up to the first public hearing, Dudley residents launched an opposition campaign. Opponents cited concerns about groundwater contamination due to Muslim burial practices. At the February 4 hearing, several hundred residents attended to present a public petition opposing the cemetery permit (Boeri, 2016, Feb 5). 

Over the next months, the Zoning Board of Appeals continued public hearings on the project before finally denying the request during its meeting on June 9, 2016. The board based its unanimous decision on the claim that the property was under special-tax status and that the Islamic Society lacked legal standing to purchase it. According to the board, the property owner had not complied with the requirement to notify the town prior to the sale, thereby failing to give the town the right of first refusal (Laplaca, 2016, Jun 9).

The Muslim community appealed the Board’s decision to the Massachusetts Land Court (MacQuarrie, 2016, Jul 5). In August, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had opened an investigation into the town’s denial of the cemetery project as a potential violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) (Serhan, 2016, Aug 18). In December 2016, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester settled the case. The town granted the special permit for a six-acre cemetery with several conditions: a ten-year moratorium on any expansion beyond the six acres, the installation of buffer zones, and a maintenance agreement (LaPlaca, 2017, Mar 2).

In April 2017, the Islamic Society released a statement that it would not pursue the cemetery project further out of financial considerations. The group announced it was seeking to reserve about 1,500 burial sites at Hope Cemetery, the municipal cemetery of Worcester (Murtishi, 2017, Apr 14).

References

• Boeri, D. (2016, February 5). Proposal For Muslim Cemetery In Dudley Meets Opposition From Residents. WBUR. Web.
• Laplaca, D. (2016, June 9). Zoning board nixes Muslim cemetery. Telegram. Web.
• Laplaca, D. (2017, March 2). Dudley board approves Muslim cemetery. Telegram. Web.
• MacQuarrie, B. (2016, July 5). Islamic group accuses Dudley of blocking Muslim cemetery. The Boston Globe. Web.
• Murtishi, A. (2017, April 14). Dead deal: Islamic Society abandons plan for Dudley cemetery. MassLive Media. Web.
• Serhan, Y. (2016, August 18). One Massachusetts Town's Rejection of a Muslim Cemetery. The Atlantic. Web.