GARDINER -- Councilors on Tuesday voted unanimously to impose a prohibition on crematories for 180 days.

The moratorium was in response to opposition to a crematorium proposed for Oak Grove Cemetery. The 27-acre cemetery at 45 Danforth St. is surrounded by a High Density Residential district.

More than 60 people attended a Planning Board meeting Oct. 13 to discuss a proposal from the Oak Grove Cemetery Association to turn a receiving tomb, where bodies were once were kept in winter, into a crematory. Concerns ranged from declining property values to toxic emissions.

About the same number of people attended the public hearing followed by a special council meeting on Tuesday.

The moratorium will last until April 25, 2010.

Councilor Robert Johnston stressed the importance of quickly establishing a process to review the proposal. He suggested forming a committee that would include officials, representatives of the Oak Grove Cemetery Association, business people and residents.

"We have to have the ability to sit down and work through these things," Johnston said. "If we leave here tonight with just a moratorium, my view is, we've only done half a job."

Mayor Andrew McLean said he will discuss it with staff and councilors and let people know how he will proceed at the next council meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 4 at City Hall.

Johnston said it was important to keep the public involved in the process.

"It seems to me our neighbors came here with a lot of good faith and honesty," Johnston said.

Earle Shettleworth, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission director who resides in Gardiner, said officials need more time to consider the historical significance of the tomb and adjoining office, which dates back to 1890.

"There really needs to be a time to step back and deal with the many issues with the crematorium," Shettleworth said. "You'll have an opportunity in a structured inclusion process to come up with a good long-term solution."

Russell Greenleaf, president of the Oak Grove Cemetery Association, said the cemetery association is not completely against a moratorium, but he wanted to make sure association members could participate in the process.

McLean assured him that all parties involved would work through the issues together. But McLean said the moratorium would prohibit any further discussion between the association and the Planning Board.

"The range of issues before the applicant is pretty clear," McLean said. "You're free to discuss it within the association and perhaps with the council, but the Planning Board is acting as a quasi-judicial role... Their judicial role will be preserved in case this matter comes back to them."

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com