Long Beach Municipal Code Ch. 16.48 Cemetery

The property owned, held, controlled, and managed by the City for cemetery purposes shall be known as the Long Beach Cemetery.

(Prior code § 7440)

The management, operation, upkeep and control of the cemetery shall be under the joint direction of the Director of Parks and the City Engineer, subject to the provisions of the laws of the State relating to burials, the Charter of the City and this Chapter. The Director of Parks shall supervise the digging of all graves and the interments therein, and shall have charge of sodding, grading and seeding thereof. No interment of any body shall be permitted unless it is accompanied by a burial or cremation permit issued pursuant to the laws of the State, and from the effective date of the ordinance codified in this Chapter, no monuments or tombs shall be placed in the cemetery. All grave markers shall be of a flat type and placed at lawn or ground level, except that a marker may be established on a grave in any lot, half lot or quarter lot, which marker is essentially a duplication in design of any marker established on the lot, half lot or quarter lot on or prior to November 14, 1943. No other improvements shall be placed in the cemetery without the written consent of the Director of Parks. Upon being presented with any permit in connection with the burial of any body or the ashes there of, the Director of Parks or his representative shall sign the same, endorse upon it the date of interment, and transmit the permit, so endorsed, to the Health Officer of the City within ten (10) days from the date of interment. He shall also keep a record which shall contain a complete account of all interments that take place in the cemetery, a description of the particular grave, the name, age, color and sex of the person interred, and the date thereof.

(Prior code § 7440.1)

That certain map designated as Map No. E45, prepared and filed in the office of the City Engineer on January 13, 1936, approved by the Council on October 10, 1939, and recorded on October 13, 1939, in the office of the County Recorder of Los Angeles County, as Map No. 814-R, constitutes the Official Map of the Long Beach Cemetery. A copy thereof shall be kept on file at the cemetery for inspection by any person interested therein. The map may be amended from time to time by resolution of the Council.

(Prior code § 7440.2)

No lot or part thereof within the boundaries of the Long Beach Cemetery shall be used for any other purpose than the interment of the human dead, and all owners of such lots or parts of lots are subject to the provisions of all applicable laws of the State, this Chapter, and to such rules, conditions, limitations, regulations, and ordinances or amendments to ordinances as the Council may from time to time make or adopt for the government, improvement and embellishment of the cemetery.

(Prior code § 7440.4)

All graves shall be opened and closed under the supervision of the Director of Parks and shall not be less than five feet (5') in depth. Only one (1) interment shall be allowed in a single grave, except in case of a mother and infant child, or twin children, or two (2) children buried at the same time. All interments in lots or parts of lots shall be restricted to members of the family or relations of the owners thereof, except by written consent of the owner and written consent of the City Engineer, such consent to be filed in the office of the City Engineer, and owners of lots or parts of lots shall not allow interments to be made therein for remuneration, nor shall they sell any lot or part thereof in the cemetery without the written consent of the City Engineer. Terms of sale of lots or parts of lots shall be cash, and no lot or part of lot shall be regarded as sold until fully paid for. If parties make interments before paying in full for their lots, the City reserves the right to remove the bodies to the single grave allotment provided for in this Chapter, and to sell the lot or part thereof to other parties, and no sale or transfer of a burial lot or part thereof shall be valid until the same has been recorded in the office of the City Engineer in a book kept for that purpose and a fee as determined by the City Council by resolution is paid. No interment, disinterment or removal shall be made in the cemetery without an application being first made to the City Engineer, together with the required fees therefor, and no body shall be taken from the cemetery without a permit for disinterment and removal required by the laws of the State. The City Engineer shall keep an accurate record of all removals made.

(ORD-10-0014, § 25, 2010; Prior code § 7440.5)

In addition to any other charges, charges for the following activities shall be set by resolution of the City Council:

A. For opening graves for any purpose;

B. For burial of ashes in a container approved by the Director of Public Works and supplied by the person in charge of such burial; and

C. Any other fees deemed necessary.

All burial boxes involved shall be made with cement which shall first be approved by the Director of Public Works, such boxes to be furnished by the person in charge of the burial.

(Ord. C-5807 § 1, 1982: prior code § 7440.6)

A portion of the cemetery grounds shall be set aside as a single grave allotment, and another portion thereof shall be set aside for free burial of the remains of such persons who have no relatives, nor friends who are legally liable for the costs of the burial under the laws of the State, and who were indigent at the time of their demise. A permit for burial in the free burial ground shall only be issued in proper cases, after an investigation by the City Engineer and a determination that the free burial is warranted.

(Prior code § 7440.7)

A. No person shall enter the cemetery with any dog or other animal, carry any firearms upon his person, or enter the grounds of the cemetery at any time between one-half (½) hour after sunset and one-half (½) hour before sunrise without the written permission of the Director of Parks. No children shall be admitted unless accompanied by some adult person who shall be responsible for their conduct.

B. All persons engaged in the placing of grave markers or other structures are expressly prohibited from scattering materials on adjoining lot or walks, or leaving the same on the grounds any longer than is necessary for the completion of the work, and such persons must obey the directions of the Director of Parks in connection therewith.

(Prior code § 7440.8)