TERRACE city council voted in favour of a motion to grant a request to place a headstone in the old Kitsumgallum Cemetery even though it does not meet the current bylaw.
The headstone is for the grandfather of Linda Frank and Rhonda Norberg and is awaiting engraving to lay beside the headstone of their grandmother, council heard from Norm Frank, who spoke to council on behalf of his wife and her family.
When the family ordered the headstone at Spirit Stones two years ago, they were not aware of the bylaw so they held off on engraving the stone in hopes of getting council’s approval for it, council heard.
The city bylaw says headstones must lay flat against the ground to make lawn maintenance easier for ground crews.
The headstone would be similar to the one it will be placed next to and is 24 inches wide, 12 inches high and 16 inches deep, the family’s letter to council indicated.
Chief administrative officer Heather Avison said director of leisure services Carmen Didier wasn’t at council but Avison said even though the bylaw didn’t allow for a raised stone, Didier was supportive of it particularly because it would be in the old cemetery which had a lot of older headstones that don’t meet the bylaw and not many more stones will be going in there.