Old pet cemetery site in Surrey could be subdivided into 3 lots for houses

A developer wants to subdivide the property in Surrey where animals have been buried for more than 70 years.

Some say that human remains are also buried on the old BC animal cemetery in Newton, but the owner claims otherwise.

On Friday, February. 2, a proposed development sign has been placed on the corner of 78 Avenue and 147A Street, as part of HY Engineering’s application to the City of Surrey to subdivide the property into three lots RF (single-family residential) .

Nearly 700 animals are buried on the property, which in the early 1950s was rural land when Daniel and Nellie (Mary) Blair created the cemetery as a business, long since dissolved.

For 30 years Turnberry Developments has owned the property, now surrounded by houses and zoned accordingly. The current assessed value is $953,000.

In recent years, after learning about the cemetery in has Now-Leader history in May 2021 and the related Youtube video, David “the Druid” Corrin worked to clean the site and take care of the graves.

“I’m an animal lover, and when I found out about this place, I wanted to go there,” said Corrin, who lives in Burnaby. “I hit the blackberry patches, and every time I come here I discover and restore the grave markers that have been grown on them, clods and branches.

“I bought a line trimmer, a hedge trimmer, a blower and stuff, and I paid for my own gas to come here three or four times a month, whenever I had time off work.

“It’s sacred ground as far as I’m concerned,” added Corrin, who says she recently buried her cat, Two White Socks, on the property.

The February 2 Corrin visited the cemetery and was surprised to see a contractor installing a proposed development sign upon arrival, around noon.

Earlier in the morning, he had sent an email Now-Leader with a tip of news that a headstone for Muriel L. Clerkea corporal of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) who died in 1981, was dug up and was missing.

The property may also be a burial site for cemetery founder Nellie Blair, but it is not certain.

The January 31, Lynn Weir with Turnberry Developments called the Now-Leader to tell about the plans to subdivide the property. He later emailed two Death Registration documents showing that Clerke was buried in August 1981 at Victory Memorial Park Crematorium in Surrey, and that Blair was buried at West Coast Crematorium in Burnaby in May 1996.

The ashes of both women could be scattered on property in Newton at some point.

“We worked with Consumer Protection BC and the City of Surrey, and we did not find any evidence of human remains,” Weir said.

There has been talk of turning the property into a park for years. Surrey council considered doing this in 1995, but instead backed a plan to have a non-profit group buy the land, something that never happened.

“Pet cemeteries are not regulated by the provincial Cemetery and Funeral Act (1990),” a report to Surrey council said in 1996. “Therefore, the developer, if he so chooses, could remove all headstones from the property and use the property for any purpose permitted under the zoning. There is no legal requirement to acknowledge in any way that animals have been buried on the site “.

Weir said Turnberry has paid property taxes for 30 years, and that the BC government considered the site “underutilizing vacant property and (is) charging additional taxes.”

“An agreement on the property until 2010 gave time for people to remove their stones, and for groups to come up with funds to buy the land,” Weir wrote in an email.

“Thirty years have passed, an extraordinary amount of time for people to make their arrangements.”

In an earlier phone call, Weir said Turnberry has developed most of the neighborhood, except for the cemetery site.

“People who live here have told us they’re happy something is happening with the land,” Weir said. “It is already a single-family residential area, and three lots will be on the property.

“It is a private property, but we have never been heavy with anyone in it, and now it is not the best use of the property. We can have people living here. I am sorry for what the neighbors had to endure with the years”.

The February 6, West Vancouver resident Heidi Inman called the Now-Leader to say she has a pet buried on the property in Newton. The remains of Jet Junior, a black Lab, have been there since 1979, Inman said.

“At the time, my father was told by the owner that it was still a pet cemetery, he wanted that promise (from Nellie Blair),” Inman said.

“The property has changed hands, we know that, and houses have gone up all around this corner property, and now this (subdivision proposal).

“I’m angry,” Inman added. “I think the neighbors in that area would like to see the land keep without three houses carved up there. I’d like to see Surrey donate that as a small park.”

Weir said anyone wanting to retrieve their pet’s stone from the property can contact her by email, turnberrydevelopments@gmail.com.

“Not many of the people who had pets buried here are probably still alive,” he added.