Prior to last week’s Winslow Council meeting, the council held a work session so discuss code updates to clarify the city code that governs Desert View Cemetery. Staff said the draft largely consolidates scattered rules into a single, easier-to-read section and updates job titles so supervision falls under the public works director. The goal, they emphasized, is to improve clarity and resume consistent enforcement of rules that have existed for years but were unevenly applied.
A major point of emphasis is marker standards. For new burials, only a single flat headstone and one flower holder will be allowed per grave, with upright monuments grandfathered if they were placed before 2008. Staff cited irrigation and maintenance problems caused by vertical markers and objects that block water coverage. Members asked staff to notify mortuaries that serve Winslow families so customers aren’t sold markers that don’t comply.
The council also worked through confusing language on how many cremation urns can be placed in a plot. The body of the code currently limits any grave space to two urns, but members and staff agreed to write a clearer standard, likely allowing up to three urns in a plot that already contains a casket, paired with a firm rule that once a section is opened and closed it cannot be reopened. The draft will add plain definitions for “plot/lot” and “urn,” align terminology throughout, and insert an explicit reference to the fee schedule.
Funeral regulations would require arrangements to be finalized 48 hours in advance with all fees paid by 4 p.m. the business day before interment, limit graveside services to one hour before overtime applies, and confirm that burials are performed by the city crew in sections designated for sale. The code restates long-standing rules on decorations, pets and disinterment, and keeps the requirement for outer burial containers, which staff said is common practice and important given Winslow’s high water table. Because this is a work session nothing was voted on or carved in stone and once the code is written it will be presented to council during a regular meeting and voted on.
