Burlington planners back rezoning for Lowe Funeral Home expansion

A .27-acre parcel behind Lowe Funeral Home and Crematory on South Church Street is now on track to become part of the funeral home’s growing cremation business after Burlington’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend rezoning the lot.

The property sits along Shannon Drive, beside the main funeral home and behind its parking area. Lowe Funeral Home says the house on the lot would not be replaced with a new full-scale building. Instead, it would be used for cremation consultations, with the only planned physical work limited to bringing the house into ADA compliance.

That makes the request less about a visible redevelopment than about how the business uses its existing footprint. For nearby residents and businesses on South Church Street, the change is likely to be felt most in day-to-day operations: more client activity tied to the rear parcel, a tighter link between the house and the main funeral home, and a zoning adjustment that folds the added acreage into the same office and institutional framework already covering the property.

There were no public comments during the planning meeting, and the rezoning moved forward without neighborhood opposition. City Council is expected to take up the matter at its May 19 meeting, where the advisory recommendation will get its next test.

The request also fits Lowe Funeral Home’s long history in Burlington. The company says it began in 1926 as part of Cates, Lowe and Cheek Furniture Store, was purchased by J.A. Lowe around March 1932, and first opened in a renovated house at Main and Holt Streets. In 1955, the business moved to a larger South Church Street facility, setting up the current campus at 2205 S Church St., Burlington, NC 27215.

Eric G. Rudd is listed by the funeral home as president and funeral director. The expansion request suggests the business is responding to stronger demand for cremation-related services, a shift that mirrors the broader funeral industry. The National Funeral Directors Association projected that cremation would reach 63.4% nationwide in 2025, compared with 31.6% for burial.

For Burlington, the rezoning is a small land-use change with a larger signal: established businesses along South Church Street are still adapting their properties to serve how families now make arrangements, use parking, and move through older commercial sites.