Peter and Annica Quackenbush (image via Institute for Justice).
A Michigan couple is asking a state court to strike down a local ordinance banning all cemeteries that they say was put in place just to stop them from opening the environmentally friendly burial ground they had planned for over a decade.
Grand Rapids couple Peter and Annica Quackenbush planned to start a “green cemetery” large enough to accommodate the burial of thousands of people and pets to honor “the last wishes of people who value environmental sustainability and connection with nature.” The couple planned to establish the West Michigan Burial Forest , which would follow guidelines set by the Green Burial Council, a private organization that certifies green cemeteries. They shopped for and purchased land, started the permit process, and gathered interest from local families — only to find that the township passed an ordinance that would make their business plan untenable.
The Quackenbushes are represented by the Institute for Justice , a nonprofit government watchdog group. They argue the Michigan state constitution protects their right “to use private property and to engage in any business that does not harm the public, subject only to regulations which have a reasonable relationship to public health, safety, or welfare” — and that their green cemetery fits squarely within authorized conduct.