Pet cemetery planned near Schaumburg
Oak Brook-based businessman Guy Sorrentino was looking for his latest venture and thinks he found it in providing final resting places for pets.
His company, Sorrentino and Sons Development Group, wants to build a pet cemetery on 5.7 acres off Wise Road in unincorporated Cook County near Schaumburg.
The cemetery would be called Pet Dreams, and Sorrentino says it would be "beautifully landscaped in a gated parklike setting."
"There's a definite need for it," he said. Pet cemeteries "are popping up all over the country, and we plan on doing it right."
Residents have a chance to learn about the plan at a public hearing set for 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, at the Schaumburg Township Library District, 130 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg.
The hearing is being hosted by Cook County, which will consider whether to grant a special-use permit Sorrentino would need to proceed.
While he wouldn't get into many of the project's specifics before the hearing, Sorrentino said if all goes well he wants to open by late spring.
He vows to improve the aesthetics of the area.
But some of the nearby residents are already skeptical about that.
The Pet Dreams property, east of Parkview Drive along Crest Avenue, is bordered on three sides by homes.
Residents worry about having a pet cemetery in their neighborhood and say the land in question often floods.
Resident Joan Tuma, who plans to attend the hearing, said she worries about the plan being changed to something else entirely. "I have a feeling it's not going to be a pet cemetery," Tuma said.
Some area residents have been under the erroneous impression that one of their neighbors, Peter Mitchell, is behind the pet cemetery proposal. Mitchell said the confusion was caused by the fact that a Cook County clerical error lists his address as being the same as the one where the cemetery is proposed.
Mitchell has faced the criticism of his neighbors before, in part because he built a large structure on his property in which to house a fire engine he owns and which some neighbors see as an eyesore.
But both Mitchell and Sorrentino confirmed he has nothing to do with the pet cemetery proposal. In fact, Mitchell said that while the plan is creative, he opposes it.
"I don't think it would serve the neighborhood well," Mitchell said.
The cemetery site is across the street from his property, and Mitchell and other neighbors remain concerned about how the cemetery would impact flooding. State law requires pet cemeteries to be at least 200 feet from the water supply and mandates the site be protected from flooding.
The site overlooks Hale Elementary School in Schaumburg. One neighbor questioned the appropriateness of having a cemetery so close to a school.
Though Sorrentino must get county zoning approval to proceed, the regulation of pet cemetery operations is generally handled at the state level.
In Illinois, the law requires pet cemeteries to be licensed with the state's Environmental Protection Agency. The Illinois Department of Agriculture also inspects the facilities.
More than 600 pet cemeteries operate in the U.S., according to the International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories. In the Chicago suburbs, Wood Dale, Elmhurst and Hinsdale have pet cemeteries.