Cemetery parking during Cruisin’ the Coast angers family members

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - A controversy over Cruisin’ the Coast parking at a Biloxi cemetery has erupted on Facebook.

Photographs posted on Facebook of RVs parked at Southern Memorial Park in Biloxi has led many relatives of those buried at the cemetery to become upset, calling it disrespectful.

The owners of the cemetery, Cara and Jacques Pucheu, said they did not intend to offend anyone by leasing a small portion of their land for recreation vehicle parking. They said they’re just trying to cover their expenses that come from the event.

That answer didn’t satisfy upset family members.

Terri Saienni’s grandparents and an aunt are buried there. When she saw the RVs parked there on Wednesday, she contacted the owners to share her opinion.

“Whether they are near graves or not, they should not be parking in the cemetery. It’s disrespectful and 100% distasteful.”

Cara Pucheu said efforts to keep Cruisin’ the Coast participants off their land last year were unsuccessful. Despite putting up temporary fencing, Cruisers went onto the cemetery grounds anyway. Pucheu said she hoped that by leasing land to responsible people it would limit damage and they could hold those people responsible.

Unfortunately, other Cruisers went into the cemetery over the weekend. One left tire marks on the road adjacent to graves. In addition, there were ruts in the ground near one of the mausoleums. Some people even claimed there were visitors grilling at the mausoleum, though there are no photos of that.

In addition, many of the vehicles parked near the cemetery were actually on the city’s right of way. A Biloxi spokesman said they try to be accommodating to Cruisers as long as they are not endangering people. That includes parking on a public right of way, as long as they are not blocking the sidewalk.

A law limiting access to cemeteries at night only applies to city-owned cemeteries.

Pucheu said the money they raised leasing the land was used to pay for workers to repair damage done by the Cruisers that were not authorized to be there. Those workers were out Monday morning repairing damage and doing regular maintenance.

Pucheu said she and her husband didn’t intend to get into the cemetery business, but they wanted to buy Floral Hills Cemetery in Gulfport so they could do a better job of caring for the site where their daughter is buried. Southern Memorial Park and a third cemetery were part of the land sale.

Pucheu said they have done more for the Southern Memorial Park in recent months than the previous owner had in the last 15 years. She said there is not enough money in the perpetual care trust to cover their expenses. Knowing they would have extra clean up work after Cruisin, they leased the land to recover their costs.

Becky and Artie Desporte of Biloxi were putting new flowers at their family’s mausoleums on Monday. Becky said she felt the owners have done a much better job of caring for the cemetery in the past few months. However, she said she did not approve of leasing the land to the Cruisers.

Other family members at the cemetery on Monday said there is no circumstance that should include using the grounds for event parking.

“There’s plenty of other parking they can find,” Saienni saud. “Someone just needs to say ‘Hey, you can’t park here. Move.’ Call the cops if you have to. I know law enforcement is very busy that week, but... there’s other places than a cemetery.”

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