Neighbors Oppose Plans for New Funeral Home on Mountain Avenue

Neighbors expressed their opposition to plans for a new funeral home at 9 Mountain Ave. and a parking lot at nearby 100 School St. during a public hearing Monday night at the City Council meeting.

Daniel S. Smith of Vertuccio and Smith Funeral Home, 773 Broadway, is requesting a special permit to raze the existing structure at 9 Mountain Ave. and build a funeral home at the corner of Mountain Avenue and School Street.

Attorney Chris Cridler spoke on behalf of the applicants for the special permit. He said both Mr. [Ralph] Vertuccio and Mr. Smith had long served the community of Revere. Both men are known for their philanthrophy and community service in Revere, and their professionalism throughout the funeral services sector. “They have both long served the community of Revere, providing comfort and solace when it is needed most by members of this community,” said Cridler. “Now they need our help at this point.”

Cridler indicated that Vertuccio and Smith Funeral Home has been asked to leave its current location on Broadway. “They have been seeking a new place to call home,” said Cridler.

In addition to the 9 Mountain Ave. site, the two funeral directors purchased the 100 School St. property for parking for the business.

Though there were many in the audience who supported the project, and Cridler was quite eloquent and factually informative in his presentation, neighbors of the project expressed their opposition.

A lifelong Revere resident who lives at 130 School St., told the Council, “I finally built my home 31 years ago diagonally across from Revere High School.”

The resident added, “I put up with all kinds of heavily impacted traffic. I don’t feel that I want to put up with any more traffic. I think the funeral home can go somewhere else, where they’re not so heavily impacted.”

A McClure Street resident also expressed concerns about traffic, “School Street is worse than Broadway. At 5 o’clock at night, you can’t even get up on to School Street. Traffic on Broadway backs up. Maybe two cars go by on a green light, and you never make it up to Broadway. Mr. Vertuccio is a personal friend of the family. This has nothing to do with him personally. I’m sure the funeral home is going to be beautiful, but it’s going to impact traffic and that is the No. 1 priority with the residents around School Street, and I’m totally opposed about that new construction.”

A Revere couple on Grand Avenue, which is across the street from the proposed site of the new funeral home, said they were “heavily opposed to this,” citing “way too much traffic” at all hours of the day.

“This [project] doesn’t seem to benefit anyone else in the area as far as the residents, besides the funeral home themself,” said the Grand Avenue resident.

Another Grand Avenue resident spoke about the traffic issues, stating, “We just feel as though there will be too much traffic and congestion. It’s just not going to be good for the neighborhood, and it’s not going to be good for the people who live there.”

City Council President Anthony Zambuto referred the matter to the Zoning Subcommittee.