Rules & Regulations
SEASIDE CEMETERY COMPANY
RULES AND REGULATIONS
ADOPTED NOVEMBER 1, 1972
DEFINITIONS
1. The singular number shall include the plural, and the plural number shall include the singular; the masculine gender shall include the feminine, and the feminine gender shall include the masculine; the word "person shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations or unincorporated associations.
2. The term "Cemetery" refers to Seaside Cemetery Company situated in Palermo, County of Cape May, New Jersey, owned by the Cemetery Company.
3. The term "Memorial" shall mean an effigy, grave marker, family monument, private mausoleum, sarcophagus or other private structure used for memorializing the dead, whether constructed partially, totally above, or flush with the ground.
4. The term "General Maintenance" refers to the Cemetery in its entirety, and shall consist of maintaining the public roads in the Cemetery, the removal of snow therefrom, the cutting of the public lawns at reasonable intervals, and maintaining the public mausoleums, columbariums, Administration Building, garages, equipment and records for the proper operation of the cemetery. However any Special Care of grass cutting of individual plots, lots, graves, shrubs, memorials or other structures is not included. Any plot owner may provide for Permanent General Maintenance by endowment.
5. The terms "special care", "annual care" and "seasonal care" are used interchangeable and shall mean only the mowing of the grass and weeds on the interment spaces at specified intervals. This does not include the replacement of any shrubs, flowers, or plants, the sodding or resodding, or the seeding or reseeding of any interment space.
6. "Endowed Care" and "Perpetual Care" are used interchangeably and shall consist of cutting the grass and weeds on interment spaces where such space has been placed under endowed care or perpetual care, by virtue of a deposit made in the Cemetery's "Perpetual Care" Fund, by the person having the right to care for the interment space. The expense incurred by the Cemetery shall be limited to the net income received by it. No part of the principal of said trust shall be expended for such purpose, anything herein stated to the contrary notwithstanding.
7. The terms "Perpetual Care" and "Endowed Care" shall in no case be construed as meaning the maintenance, care, repair or replacement of any gravestones, memorials or monumental structures or other embellishments or improvements placed or erected upon any interment space; or the reseeding or resodding of the interment space; or the planting of flowers, care, special planting of ornamental plants; or the maintenance or doing of any special or unusual work in the cemetery; nor does it mean the reconstruction or cleaning of any marble, granite, bronze or concrete work on any section, plot or lot, or structures, where the loss or damage was caused by any act other than that of the Cemetery, including but not limited to loss or damage by the elements, acts of God, the common enemy, thieves, vandals, lightening strikes, malicious mischief makers, explosions, unavoidable accidents, wars, invasions, insurrections, riots, or by the orders of any military or civil authority, whether the loss or damage bye direct or collateral, other than as herein provided.
8. The conveyance of interment spaces in the Cemetery confers only the right of interment therein.
9. No interment or disinterment will be permitted in, and no monument, memorial or embellishment may be placed on any plot, lot, grave, crypt, or niche, against which there shall be any charge of the Cemetery due and unpaid.
10. Owners of interment spaces shall not permit interments to be made therein for a remuneration.
11. The size of the burial container to be used shall be subject to the approval of the Cemetery.
12. Inasmuch as boxes and caskets made of wood and/or metal may deteriorate and collapse after a comparatively few years, thereby causing hazardous and unsightly sunken graves, therefore the Cemetery may, whenever it shall deem such action necessary, prohibit the use of such boxes and/or caskets, except where the same are enclosed in a concrete or stone vault or sectional concrete liner, or such specifications as shall be approved by the Cemetery. The actual installation and sealing of such containers shall in all cases be made by the Cemetery.
13. No disinterment will be permitted except with the consent of the persons required by the New Jersey Cemetery Act, and all such consents shall be in such form as is satisfactory tot he Cemetery.
14. The Cemetery shall exercise due care in making a disinterment, removal or reinterment, but shall assume no liability for damage to a body, casket, burial case, or urn, in making the same.
15. All persons, including but not limited to outside contractors, wishing to do any work in the Cemetery, including but not limited to the erecting of mausoleums, vaults, monuments, setting grave markers, or cutting any inscription, must first present at the Cemetery Office a written authorization signed by the owner of the plot, lot, grave or crypt, and by such others whose consent the Cemetery deems necessary, specifying in detail the work to be done and materials to be furnished. They must obtain a written permit from the Cemetery before commencing the work or bringing any materials into the Cemetery. Said permit will be granted only upon the condition that the person who is to do such work first file with the Cemetery a surety bond from a responsible insurance company authorized to do business in the State of New Jersey, in the sum of $500.00, and in such form as is satisfactory to the Cemetery, indemnifying it against any damage which he may cause to the property of the owner of the plot, lot, grave or crypt, or to the property of the Cemetery, and/or to any other plot, lot, grave, or crypt owner, and he shall at all times during the performance of the work maintain in full force, with responsible insurance companies authorized to transact business in the State of New Jersey, insurance against public liability for personal injury and/or death, with such limits as the Cemetery shall specify, before commencing work or bringing materials into the Cemetery, he shall furnish the Cemetery with a certificate from his insurance carrier certifying said coverage. Such permit shall be shown whenever demanded by the Superintendent of the Cemetery or such other properly authorized person as shall be in charge of the Cemetery in his absence, for which it may make a reasonable charge. In addition to the foregoing, all outside contractors shall file adequate certificates, issued by responsible insurance companies authorized to transact business in the State of New Jersey, evidencing adequate coverage for public liability and property damage and Workmen/s Compensation.
16. All work done and materials furnished to the owner of a plot, lot, grave or crypt by anyone other than the Cemetery shall be subject to the approval of the Cemetery, for which approval it may fix and collect a reasonable charge. The Cemetery, however, in no event assumes any liability to any one by reason of its granting such approval. If in the opinion of the Cemetery, any work or material so furnished shall be improper, it may reject the same; and if the said work has already been done or the said material been delivered on the plot, lot, grave or crypt, the Cemetery may enter and remove the same, or if in it's opinion the same may be put in order, the Cemetery may in its discretion put the same in proper order at the expense of the owner of the plot, lot, grave or crypt.
17. All workmen employed by anyone other than the Cemetery in performing any work or furnishing any material in the Cemetery must be subject to the supervision of the Cemetery; and any workman failing to conform to this Rule and Regulation will not be permitted to work on the grounds.
18. The Cemetery shall have the right to refuse care and/or planting orders.
19. Care of the individual graves in a private plot is not permitted. The entire lot must be placed under care.
20. Whenever a family monument is erected to cover one or more lots, the entire area represented must be placed under care and will be considered as one plot.
21. a. No one may plant any shrubs or plants on the interment space without the prior approval of the Cemetery, and certification from the grower that the same are free from disease.
b. All shrubs must be slow growing, and must be properly maintained by the grave and lot owners at their own expense.
c. All faded floral designs, dead flowers, broken and faded flags and any containers for the same may be removed by the Cemetery without any liability attaching thereto. However, the Cemetery shall be under no obligation to render such services without compensation.
d. A lot owner may not plant, or order the planting of hedges, trees or any plants to form borders around a lot. Planting in a continuous row to sub - divide or separate graves within a lot will not be permitted.
e. Nothing herein above contained shall be deemed to prohibit care of a grave or lot by the owner or his duly authorized representatives. All rubbish made by such owners, gardeners or other representatives must be removed by them to such places of deposit as may be provided for this purpose, immediately after completion of their work and before leaving the Cemetery. In the event this Rule is not strictly complied with, the Cemetery may, upon giving five days written notice by regular or certified mail to the owner at his last known address, remove such rubbish at the expense of the owner.
22. The Cemetery may at any time enter upon the plots, lots, graves and crypts to keep the same neat, and clear off the grass and weeds and dispose of the same; but nothing herein contained shall obligate the Cemetery to render any such service without compensation therefore.
23. No beds of stone, concrete, metal or plastic may be used to encircle graves or plots. No shells, stones, pebbles, etc. may be used to decorate graves or plots. Only grass or approved plants may be used. A grave or lot owner may arrange with the Cemetery Office for the planting and cultivating of trees, shrubs and plants on the grave or lot by the Cemetery. No orders for the planting of trees, shrubs or plants on a grave or lot will be accepted unless provision is made for continuing care thereof.
24. No orders will be accepted for the construction of foundations in any grave or plot against which there shall be any unpaid charges due to the Cemetery. All work ordered to be done by the Cemetery for which it may impose a charge, must be paid for in advance.
25. Before commencing any work, the monument contractor shall first submit to the Cemetery, for its approval, a written order, in duplicate, containing the following information:
a. Type of work to be done.
b. Sketch of memorial to be erected and the inscription thereon indicating name of
deceased or lot owner.
c. Width, thickness and height of base
d. Width, thickness and height of die.
e. Type, finish and color of base and die.
f. Name and address of purchaser.
26. A permit signed by the grave or plot owner, and/or the lawfully required heirs and representatives of a deceased grave or lot owner, must accompany each order. If the owner is a society, lodge or congregation, the permit must be signed by the authorized officers thereof and bear the seal of the organization. The Cemetery shall have the right to rely and act upon the truth of all statements therein, and upon the genuiness of all signatures thereon and upon the authority of the person signing the same to bind all interested parties. The aforesaid permit must specify the name of the deceased, the date of death, row and grave number. If the permit is for a double stone, the reserve grave must be indicated thereon. If the permit is for a family stone, a description of the lot must accompany the order.
27. No monument or other memorial, tree, plant, object or embellishment shall be altered or removed from a lot, grave, or crypt without first notifying the Cemetery.
28. The Cemetery reserves the right to restrict or determine the location of a mausoleum on any lot. Mausoleums, so far as related to dimensions, locations on the lot, character of materials, nature of workmanship, inclusive of finishing, bases and foundations, must comply with the Rules and Regulations pertaining to the construction of mausoleums, which will be furnished on request.
29. Any notice which may be necessary or proper to be given to the owner of a plot, lot or any part thereof, or interest therein, or of any grave, crypt or niche, shall be sufficient if sent by ordinary mail addressed to him at his last address on file in the Cemetery Office. It shall be the duty of such owner to notify the Cemetery in writing by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, of any change of his post office address, and such notice must be actually received by the Cemetery at said office.
30. The Cemetery reserves the right to compel all persons coming into the Cemetery to obey all Rules and Regulations now or hereafter adopted by it.
31. The Cemetery reserves, and shall have the right to correct any error that it may make in interments, disinterments or removals, or in the inscriptions on memorials or on the container for cremated remains, or in locating or placing of memorials, or in the contract for the sale of or in the conveyance of interment spaces (including but not limited to the erroneous inclusion therein of interment spaces which it had theretofore sold or contracted to sell to another). In the event of any error made in the contract for the sale of interment spaces, the Cemetery may, at its election, correct the same, or if for any reason it cannot sell, and the error requires the removal of interred remains, the Cemetery reserves the right to disinter the same and reinter the same in the correct or new location. The Cemetery shall not be liable for damages for any such error or the consequences thereof, or for the correction thereof.
32. No mound, monument or other memorial, tree, plant or object or embellishment of any kind shall be placed upon, altered or removed from a plot, lot, grave or crypt without the written consent of the Cemetery.
33. For the purpose of performing work in any part of the Cemetery or on any plot or lot, or part thereof, or on any grave or crypt including but not limited to making excavations for any purpose, the Cemetery reserves the right to enter upon and temporarily use any adjoining plot, lot, grave or crypt, including but not limited to the right to place thereon such tools, derricks and/or materials as may be necessary to perform said work.
34. All persons entering the Cemetery for whatever reason must display proper respect for the deceased and for the sacred burial grounds in which they are interred. Management and the employees of the Cemetery may take such measures as the circumstances warrant in order to assure strict observance of this basic principle. In addition the following must be adhered to:
a. No vehicle shall ever be driven at a speed exceeding 15 miles per hour. When a lesser speed limit is posted, such lower limit must be observed.
b. All work and other activity must cease during the conducting of funeral services in the vicinity.
35. All disorderly persons, or persons who willfully violate any of the Rules or Regulations of the Cemetery, or trespass upon the Cemetery grounds, may be ejected from the grounds and forbidden thereafter to enter therein. All such persons shall be held liable under the law for any damage done by them.
36. The Cemetery reserves unto itself the right, at any time and from time to time, to enlarge, reduce, replot or change the boundaries or grading of the cemetery or of any section or sections thereof, or any part or parts thereof including but not limited to the right to modify or change the location of, or any part or parts of, or to grade or eliminate, roads, drives and/or walks. It also reserves unto itself easements and rights of way under, through, and over the Cemetery grounds and any and every part thereof for the purpose of laying, maintaining and operating, or altering or changing pipe lines, conduits, gutters and/or drains for sprinkling systems, drainage, electric or communication lines, or for any other purpose. The Cemetery further reserves unto itself and to those lawfully entitled thereto, a perpetual right to ingress and egress over any and all plots, graves and crypts in the Cemetery for the purpose of passage and repassage to and from other plots, lots, graves or crypts and other parts of the Cemetery.
37. The Cemetery shall not be liable for damage or injury to any person or property in the Cemetery, except for its own willful misconduct or gross negligence. Person entering the Cemetery grounds, or buying property therein are mere licensees and assume every and all risks.
38. a. No entrance sills or enclosures of any kind, including, without limitation, hedges, shrubs,
posts, bars, chains and rails shall be permitted on private plots.
b. The entrance to every lot must at all times remain unobstructed.
c. If, in order to open a grave or make an interment or disinterment, the Cemetery at any time deems it necessary to remove existing hedges, shrubs, posts, bars, corner markers, entrance sills, enclosures or part of enclosures, it may remove and dispose of the same without any liability and without responsibility for the replacement or cost of replacement thereof..
39. The Cemetery may, and hereby reserves the right at any time or times, with or without notice to anyone, including but not limited to the owners of interment spaces or any contractor or memorial dealer, to revise, amend, modify, supplement or repeal in whole or in part, these Rules and Regulations.
40. In the construction of these Rules and Regulation or any part thereof, no outline or analysis of the contents of any title, sub-title or Rule or Regulation or headnote shall be deemed to be a part of these Rules and Regulations.
41. Special cases may arise in which the literal enforcement of a Rule or Regulation may impose unnecessary hardship. The Cemetery, therefore, reserves the right, without notice, to make exceptions, suspensions or modifications in any of the Rules and Regulations, when in its judgment, the same appear advisable; and such exceptions, suspensions or modifications shall in no way be construed as affecting the general application of such Rules and Regulations. It is expressly understood that any indulgence on the part of the Cemetery, or failure to insist upon the strict performance of any Rule or Regulation shall not be deemed a waiver of its rights in the premises.
42. The Cemetery will exercise due care when mowing the grass but will assume no responsibility for chipped corner markers or bases, monuments, or any other grave decorations.
43. The Cemetery will exercise due care when trimming around stones but will assume no responsibility for any flowers, shrubs, etc. that may be damaged in the process. All plantings are to be made at the owners risk.
44. The Cemetery reserves the right to install all necessary foundations for any monuments, markers, or bases.
45. The Cemetery reserves to itself the exclusive right to furnish equipment necessary for interments. (i.e. lowering device, greens, tents, chairs, etc.)
46. The Cemetery reserves for itself the right to lower any flush markers or corner markers to ground level in order to facilitate mowing grass.