24.12.1.030 Findings

The Council hereby finds and declares that:

(a) The Pueblo has identified the need to address the overcrowding issues at the current cemetery due to the limited space available for new burials and the need to avoid any disturbance of existing graves; and,

(b) Beginning in February 2023, the Pueblo initiated a public process to determine whether an expansion of the existing cemetery could be accomplished or whether a new location for a cemetery should be identified ("Project"); and,

(d) The public discussion about the Project has included church officials, Pueblo officials and employees, traditional leaders of the Pueblo, and the general public; and,

(e) The traditional leaders of the North Kiva and the South Kiva ("Traditional Leaders") were consulted throughout the process, including the efforts to select a suitable location for a new cemetery; and,

(f) The Pueblo's Realty Office ("Realty Office"), Department of Environmental and Cultural Preservation ("DECP"), and Tribal Historic Preservation Office ("THPO") were included in the discussions involving the Project to determine if the lands under consideration for a new cemetery were legally available, not likely to cause environmental harm to the water table and other resources, and did not contain any culturally significant sites; and,

(g) The Pueblo also consulted with outside experts regarding the siting of a new cemetery including a professional cemetery Planner who provided helpful insights into the details and issues involved in establishing a new cemetery; and,

(h) After extensive consultation with interested parties, the Pueblo reached a preliminary recommendation about the Project that identified four (4) possible locations for a new cemetery since expanding the existing cemetery in front of the church was not an option due to the existing gravesites, archeological sites, and limited space available; and,

(i) After engaging in additional consultation about the Project and the preliminary recommendation, the Traditional Leaders indicated that a public meeting should be conducted to select a location for a new cemetery from the list of four (4) possible locations; and,

(j) In March 2025, the Pueblo sponsored a public meeting to discuss and analyze the four (4) possible locations for a new cemetery, culminating in the preliminary selection of the "Coral Area" site, with the church officials indicating their support of the preliminary decision; and,

(k) The Coral Area site, consisting of approximately two acres of land, was determined to be the best location for a new cemetery because the initial findings of the Realty Office, DECP, and THPO, indicates that the site includes no disputed land claims, the site is large enough to accommodate foreseeable future burials, the site includes reasonable access and parking space, the site has wastewater and water nearby, and that the site is not close to any residential homes.