With most deaths nationally now being handled through cremation, local funeral homes are getting on board with the trend.

The latest is Hardy & Son Funeral Home, which won approval at Thursday’s Warren County Board of Adjustments meeting for a conditional-use permit to operate a crematory on its 3098 Louisville Road property.

The action follows a May approval for a crematory at Cone Funeral Home on Campbell Lane.

Those two approvals will double the number of crematories in Warren County, adding to one operated by Vogt Vault Co. on Louisville Road and another on Kenton Street operated by J.C. Kirby & Son Funeral Chapels & Crematory.

That growth is in keeping with the trend identified by the National Funeral Directors Association, which reports that the percentage of deaths handled by cremation has risen from about 5% in the 1970s to more than 50% today.

Kentucky hasn’t kept pace with that trend, and the state’s cremation percentage was 33.4% for 2018, but Hardy & Son owner Bill Hardy Jr. said that is changing.

“You could see this trend coming years ago,” Hardy said after Thursday’s meeting. “We’re now at a 30% cremation rate, and it’s only going to get higher.”

Hardy said his funeral home, which was established by his grandfather in 1926, has been contracting out cremations but will now be able to “offer all services under one roof.”

The permit application was approved in a 6-0 vote despite some concerns raised by one local resident and one nearby business.

Robert Turner, who lives on Old Porter Pike, expressed concerns about emissions from the crematory.

Attorney Tim Edelen said his client Houchens Industries had concerns about the impact on the Northgate Shopping Center that is near the funeral home.

The CUP was approved with the condition that the funeral home install a buffer of trees and shrubs around the crematory that will include equipment made by Florida-based Matthews Environmental Solutions.

A separate CUP application, this one for a bed-and-breakfast operation in Drakesborough subdivision, brought out nearly two dozen residents in opposition and was denied 7-0.

Larry and Diana Caillouet applied to operate the bed and breakfast, something they had been doing already until a code enforcement complaint prompted them to apply for the CUP.

Larry Caillouet argued the B&B he had been operating at 140 Morningstar Court was not a detriment to the neighborhood and that many of his neighbors were not even aware he had been operating the business.

“We’re not proposing a short-term rental (defined as those where the property owner is not present during rental stays),” Caillouet said. “We’ll be present any day a guest is in our home.”

But attorney David Broderick, representing many of the Drakesborough residents, made the case that a business was not compatible with the residential neighborhood.

“This is a single-family neighborhood,” Broderick said. “There are no other bed-and-breakfast businesses in the area. We think allowing a business to operate there would change the nature of the neighborhood.”

Caillouet had a couple of neighbors testify in support of his application, but in the end all seven members of the board voted to deny it.

Another CUP application – this one for a campground development in the Barren River Road area – drew some opposition but was approved unanimously.

Jett and Courtney Miller applied for the CUP to operate a five-cabin campground with a picnic shelter and drive-in kayak access on 74 acres on Barren River at 10350 Barren River Road.

About a dozen residents of the Barren River Road area, many of them represented by attorney Matt Baker, turned out to oppose the application.

“They are adamantly opposed to this,” Baker said during the hearing. “The residents are concerned about noise and trash. Most people who move 10 miles out in the country do so because they want peace and quiet. I don’t believe this campground is compatible with the area.”

Jett Miller countered those arguments, saying he would put noise restrictions in place and ensure that trash would not be a problem.

“This property is ideal for a campground,” said Jett Miller, a former Bowling Green firefighter. “It’s ideal for canoeing and kayaking. It will provide a safe, quiet experience.”

The board of adjustments also approved the application of Selestino Meshake of Light Mission Pentecostal Church to operate a religious institution on a 1.34-acre tract along Crewdson Drive near Old Barren River Road.