Rooftop Funeral Services In Lomita Have Nearby Condo Residents Ready To Scream

LOMITA (CBSLA.com) — Residents of the Vista Verde condos in Lomita are seething about a nearby memorial park's rooftop mausoleum.

The rooftop services, say the residents, are deadly on their property values, views and downright depressing.

"We're sitting there eating brunch on the weekends, and we have people right outside our window crying their eyes out," one condo owner told the Daily Breeze.

Residents told KCAL9's Rachel Kim they're dying for the funerals to move.

"I had an ocean view, which I don't have anymore, and I used to see the lights," condo resident Lane Mayhew told Kim.

For 26 years, Mayhew says she's enjoyed the view from her balcony at Vista Verde. But she told Kim that all changed when Green Hills Memorial Park began holding funerals on the rooftop of their new mausoleum about 50 feet from her balcony.

"I've seen many funerals. They've brought the caskets up this way so everything comes up and down the ramp. It's sad, it's upsetting, it's frustrating, it's my home," she says.

Green Hills' President and CEO Ray Frew told Kim they began the rooftop internments at the end of August after plans were approved by the city. Frew says they're trying to be good neighbors but says some residents at Vista Verde have been acting childish and churlish.

"People coming on to their balconies and have done things like banging pots and pans, apparently setting off intentionally their car alarms during services, which I find difficult to comprehend," said Frew.

Residents Kim talked to denied Frew's claims.

Meanwhile, Green Hills says they will be sending the Vista Verde Homeowner's Association a cease-and-desist letter asking them to stop disrupting the funerals.

Both sides have lawyered up and will have a chance to voice their concerns before the next Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission meeting on Aug. 12.

"Our goal here is try to see if there's some way to work out a resolution that would satisfy them and allow us to continue serving the families that come to us," Frew said.

"No matter what they really do, they'll never be able to give me my home back," says Mayhew.