Archdiocese Leasing Of Cemeteries To Be Subject Of Court Hearing Monday
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--The proposal by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to sign a long-term lease with a Levittown, Pa. company to manage 13 cemeteries will be subject of a court hearing on Monday.
The archdiocese wants to lease its 13 cemeteries to StoneMor Partners LP under an arrangement which would net $89 million, paid over a 35-year period.
The total length of the lease between the two parties is 60 years (see related story).
The deal requires an up-front payment of $53 million.
On Monday, Judge John Herron will conduct a hearing during which he will consider the arrangement and hear any objections brought by any parties.
Ken Gavin, a spokesman for the archdiocese, says the judge had initially set a hearing for mid-December but postponed it and directed the archdiocese to widely publicize the plan.
"We've reached out to all of the 230-plus parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and we asked that our pastors reference the hearing date, post information about that hearing, and make copies available to their parishioners in a way that they thought might be most efficient," Gavin tells KYW Newsradio.
The proposal is also posted on the archdiocese web site.