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San Jose Moves Ahead With New Cemetery To Accommodate Its Departing Residents

SAN JOSE (KCBS) — The city of San Jose is growing and that means its need for cemeteries is growing too.

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San Jose Moves Ahead With New Cemetery To Accommodate Its Departing Residents

There are only three active cemeteries in San Jose: Oak Hill, near the fairgrounds; Calvarly, on the east side and Los Gatos Memorial, the last one to open—in 1887, when the population was much smaller.

"I'd think you'd expect that, with a city of a million people, that you've got births and deaths of people moving in and moving out all the time. So there is that big demand for cemetery services here in the Valley," David Vossbrink, the city's spokesman, said.

The City Council approved rezoning for the city's first new cemetery in 125 years to be developed by Brandenburg Properties. The 100-acre cemetery called "Heritage Oaks Cemetery" will be located at the city's southern limits, near the Cinnabar Hills Golf Club.

While it may be a pleasant subject but property developer Bill Baron told KCBS, that in Santa Clara County, an estimated 300,000 people are unexpected to die within the next 30 years.

The groundbreaking at the new non-denominational cemetery is scheduled for 2016.

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