Policies & Regulations — Vashon Cemetery

POLICIES

GROUNDS - GENERAL

King County Cemetery District No. 1 shall take reasonable precaution to protect the owners and property rights of owners within the Vashon and Maury Island Cemeteries, from loss or damage, but King County Cemetery District No. 1 disclaims all responsibility for loss or damage from causes beyond its reasonable control and especially from damage caused by the elements, vandals, or unavoidable accidents.

Individual property owners shall be responsible for improvements, upkeep and repair of their property. King County Cemetery District No. 1 is not responsible for theft or damage to anything placed on graves or lots.

If any tree, shrub or plant standing upon any space within a given lot becomes detrimental to any property and its removal is deemed necessary by the Cemetery Board of Commissioners, King County Cemetery District No. 1 has the right to remove such trees, shrubs, or plants or any part thereof, or to otherwise correct the existing condition.

FENCING. CURBING, PLANTINGS (Vashon Cemetery)

No new curbing or fencing is allowed in the cemetery unless permission is obtained from the Board of Commissioners. No natural rock, shells or brick borders shall be permitted.

Any new shrubs must be placed in designated areas only and should not exceed 3' wide and 5' tall when full grown. Trees must not exceed 20' when full grown. If it exceeds those limits, it may be removed or pruned by cemetery staff.

Graves in 1 East and Block 10 are NOT to be planted with anything except grass. Upright memorials and associated plantings are allowed only where designated in the lot map.

Greenwood Natural Burial Ground: No new planting for 6 months after burial. Only 1 native planting is allowed.

DISPLAYS AND ARRANGEMENTS

After a period of 30 days, arrangements or containers that appear "spent" will be removed by cemetery staff. Fresh arrangements will be removed when spent.

MARKERS (Vashon & Maury Cemeteries)

Approval shall be obtained from the property management company prior to placing any marker. Flat grave markers must be set level with the surface of the turf and have a lawnmower proof edge. Upright markers in allowed areas must have appropriate foundations and lawnmower proof edge.

Rocks larger than 1-2” in diameter are prohibited and may be removed by Cemetery staff.

REPLATTING FOR ADDITIONAL SPACES (Vashon Cemetery)

Replat roadways as recommended in King County Cemetery District No. 1- Vashon Cemetery Master Plan, by "The Quorum", Jon F. Thomas, Architect, dated June 1984

King County Cemetery District No. 1 has the right to replat or add new sections dependent on need.

HOURS & GENERAL CODE OF CONDUCT: (Vashon & Maury Cemeteries)

Cemetery hours are 6am - 9pm daily.

Dogs are allowed on leash and owners must clean up after pet. No horses allowed.

Any unauthorized person on the grounds of the cemetery after posted hours shall be considered a trespasser and appropriate action may be taken.

Admission to cemetery
Visitors and the public are invited to utilize this cemetery in a manner consistent with its purpose as a place of interment and as a memorial, subject to the following:

Children are not permitted on the premises unless in the company of a responsible adult and they shall be supervised at all times.

The headstones and monuments on the premises shall not be handled, climbed upon or otherwise mistreated.

No one shall move, repair, or otherwise alter any monument or headstone without written consent of the Cemetery District.

No one shall deface or otherwise damage any monument or headstone

Liability

The following warning shall be posted near the cemetery entrance:

WARNING: The monuments, headstones or rock walls on these premises may fall resulting in serious personal injury if moved or climbed upon. All entrants on these premises do so submit to the foregoing rules and at their own risk. King County Cemetery District No. 1 shall not be liable to any person for injuries sustained while withing any portion of the cemetery.

Vehicles

All vehicles must be kept under control at all times. No vehicle shall be driven in any part of the cemetery except on the driveways laid out for that purpose. Vehicles shall not be driven in the cemetery at a speed exceeding 5 miles per hour.

Conduct

It is of utmost importance that there be strict observance of all rules at all . Cemetery employees are authorized and directed to prevent improper assemblies or activities.

Loud talking and distracting activities will be avoided within hearing distance of a funeral service.

Littering including wilted or dead flowers and any other refuse on drives, paths, or any grounds or in any building is prohibited.

It is forbidden to pluck any flower, break any branch or remove any tree or plant, nor shall anyone write upon, deface, or damage any memorial, fence or other structures within the cemetery.

Peddling or soliciting

No person will be permitted to peddle flowers or plants or to solicit the sale of any commodity within the cemetery.

Signs
No signs, notices or advertisements of any kind shall be allowed in the cemetery, unless placed by the Cemetery District.

Authority of cemetery staff
The cemetery staff is/are empowered to enforce all rules and regulations and to exclude from the cemetery any person violating the same. Cemetery staff & commissioners are responsible for the grounds and buildings. All persons in the cemetery, including the conduct of funerals, traffic, employees, plot owners and visitors shall comply with this code.

REGULATIONS

PRICE SCHEDULE
A schedule of prices of all graves, green burial spaces, scattering rights, memorial stone space, and columbarium niches in the cemetery property shall be approved by the Board of Commissioners.

The schedule of price may be changed or altered by resolution. No grave space shall be sold by the Cemetery District for less than the price named in such schedule which is in force at the time of sale.

SALES
Sales of interment or inurnment spaces may be restricted to purchases by families (past and present) of Vashon & Maury Islands.

Plot sales are handled by the Property Management Company.

Record of ownership by specific name will be established at the time of sale by Cemetery staff.

Sales will be limited to one lot for an individual family purchase.

Deviation from the intent of this regulation will require the approval of the King County Cemetery District No. 1 Board of Commissioners.

BURIALS (Vashon Cemetery)

All burials and inurnments must be performed by a licensed Funeral Director.

All burials and inurnments require consent of property owners(s).

King County Cemetery District No. 1 and the property management company shall be contacted at least 48 hours prior to placement of any remains, as all burials and inurnments must be recorded.

Crypts require preapproval.

Burial vaults are recommended for a casket burial; however, concrete liners or polymer liner are acceptable. One or the other is required.

Cremated remains (inurnment) may require an urn vault depending on material of urn. Approval by the property management company is required prior to placing remains. Only 4 cremated remains allowed per one adult burial space.

The sale of double depth burial spaces are not allowed at the Vashon Cemetery.

Maury Island Cemetery is a historical site, burials and internments are not allowed.

SCATTER GARDEN
Only cremated or composted remains may be placed in the designated scatter garden area upon payment of the required fee.

The Cemetery District’s fee schedule shall designate the fees for the right to scatter ashes or composted remains with or without reserved space on the memorial stone.

Certificate of Reservation. As evidence of eligibility and pre-payment of necessary fees, a prospective user shall be furnished a certificate of reservation giving the named user the right to scatter ashes, and/or engraving space on the memorial stones.

Cremated or composted remains are scattered in a common area and may be commingled with other cremated or composted remains previously placed.

Cremated or composted remains scattered in the scatter garden will not be recoverable.

Biodegradable urn containers are not allowed in the designated scatter garden.

Planting of shrubs or trees within the scatter garden will not be allowed except by Cemetery staff or those authorized by Cemetery staff. The scattering of Native flowering seeds is allowed.

No statues, fencing, monuments or other decorations, other than cut flowers, may be placed in the scatter garden.

A funeral director, property management representative, or Cemetery District staff must be present for scattering of cremated or composted remains.

NATURAL BURIAL GROUND (Greenwood)
Natural (Green) Burials are allowed in the designated Natural Burial Ground area upon payment of the required fee. The Cemetery District’s fee schedule shall designate the fees for the right to perform a Natural Burial in the designated Natural Burial Ground.

Burial location will be placed in order of need. There will be no predesignated plot designation except for companion plots. After the first burial the Cemetery District & property management company will identify the companion plot placement.

Natural Burials shall be in conformity with the operations manual established by the cemetery district.

TRANSFERS (Vashon & Maury Cemeteries)

Property or properties can be transferred or sold to another party by the owner or by the property management company. If sold by owner, sales are subject to all polices and regulations of King County Cemetery District No. 1 and must be approved by the property management company. Transfer fee (per transaction) is payable at the time of sale.

MARKERS (Vashon & Maury Cemeteries)

CEMETERY BOARD

Established in 1976 the King County Cemetery District No.1 is governed by a board of three publicly elected commissioners. Terms are staggered and for a length of six years.

Meetings of King County Cemetery District No. 1 are open to the public except for executive sessions. Designated meeting times shall be publicly posted.

On an annual rotating basis there shall be a designated Board Chair, Treasurer and At-Large position.

MODIFICATIONS AND AMENDMENTS

King County Cemetery District No. 1 reserves the right, with or without notice to owners, to adopt new or to amend any portion of these policies and regulations.

For any regulation changes, a majority vote of the Board of Commissioners of King County Cemetery District No. 1 reserves, shall be required.

ADOPTED by the Board of Commissioners of King County Cemetery District No. 1 reserves at a regular meeting held on this 12th day of June, 2024.

DEFINITIONS:

Cemetery: the burial ground commonly known as Vashon & Maury Island Cemetery, including, without limitations:

1. All land dedicated, reserved or used for interment of the remains of human dead;
2. All vegetation therein;
3. All graves, mausoleums, crypts, columbaria, niches or other interment spaces therein;
4. All works of art therein;
5. All roads, walkways and other structures of every kind therein;
6. All equipment and facilities incidental to the operation of KCCD #1 Vashon Cemetery

Columbarium: a structure or other space containing niches for permanent inurnment of cremated remains.

Committal: the part of a funeral service which commits the remains of the deceased to their final resting place.

Companion graves: two single graves side by side or of one double depth grave.

Composted remains: Human composting is a process for the final disposition of human remains which entails encasing human corpses in wood chips, straw, and alfalfa until thermophile microbes decompose the human body into compost. Also called Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) or terramation.

Cremated remains: a human body after cremation in a crematory or through alkaline hydrolysis, also referred to as ashes.

Crypt: a space in a mausoleum of sufficient size, used or intended to be used, to entomb uncremated human remains.

Funeral: a memorial service for a deceased person.

Grave: a space of land in a cemetery used or intended to be used for the burial of human remains.

Grave owner or Owner: any person in whose name an interment plot stands of record as owner, in the records of the cemetery at Cemetery District Office

Green Burial: A way of c.aring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat. Green burial necessitates the use of non-toxic and biodegradable materials, such as caskets, shrouds, and urns. Also called Natural Burial

Human remains or Remains: the body of a deceased person and includes the body in any stage of decomposition except cremated remains.

Interment: the (a) burial, (b) entombment or (c) inurnment of human remains.

Burial: the disposition of human remains by earthen burial in a grave.
Entombment: the placement of human remains in a crypt either above or below ground.
Inurnment: placing of cremated remains in an urn in a grave, crypt, or niche.

Mausoleum: a structure or building for the entombment of human remains in crypts in a place used, or intended to be used, for cemetery purposes.

Memorial: (a) a monument, tombstone, grave marker, tablet or headstone identifying a grave or graves or (b) a name plate or inscription identifying a crypt or niche to preserve remembrance.

Natural Burial Ground: A type of cemetery that allows full body interment in the ground, without embalming, using a biodegradable container, and without a grave liner or vault.

Niche: a space in a columbarium used or intended to be used for the inurnment of cremated human remains.

Plot: a grave, niche or crypt.

Scatter: Spreading, casting, or burying of cremated or composted remains in an opening in the designated Scatter Garden

Scatter Garden: a specifically designated area within the cemetery within which uncontained cremated or composted remains may be placed in the ground.