TITLE XXVI
CEMETERIES; BURIALS; DEAD BODIES

CHAPTER 289
CEMETERIES

Section 289:3

    289:3 Location. –
All cemeteries and burial grounds shall be laid out in accordance with the following requirements:
I. No cemetery shall be laid out within 100 feet of any dwelling house, schoolhouse or school lot, store or other place of business without the consent of the owner of the same, nor within 50 feet of a known source of water or the right of way of any classification of state highway. Existing cemeteries which are not in compliance with the above set-back requirements may be enlarged, provided that no portion of the enlargement is located any closer to the above-listed buildings, water sources or highways than the existing cemetery, and provided further that no such enlargement shall be located within 50 feet of any classification of state highway.
II. Burials on private property, not in an established burial ground, shall comply with local zoning regulations. In the absence of such regulations, such burial sites shall comply with the requirements in paragraph I. The location of the burial site shall be recorded in the deed to the property upon transfer of the property to another person.
III. New construction, excavation, or building in the area of a known burial site or within the boundaries of an established burial ground or cemetery shall comply with local zoning regulations concerning burial sites, burial grounds or cemeteries, whether or not such burial site or burial ground was properly recorded in the deed to the property. In the absence of such regulations, no new construction, excavation, or building shall be conducted within 25 feet of a known burial site or within 25 feet of the boundaries of an established burial ground or cemetery, whether or not such burial site or burial ground was properly recorded in the deed to the property, except when such construction, excavation, or building is necessary for the construction of an essential service, as approved by the governing body of a municipality in concurrence with the cemetery trustees, or in the case of a state highway, by the commissioner of the department of transportation in concurrence with the cemetery trustees.
IV. Nothing in this section shall be construed to conflict with RSA 290, local ordinances, or cemetery rules concerning burials and disinterments of human remains.

Source. 1994, 318:2, eff. Aug. 7, 1994.