In Residence

The proposed conversion of the East Hampton Medical Group into a funeral home has stirred up a lot of dust.

Neighbors, sounding appalled at the prospect, have found many arguments against it and have underlined their opposition with a pair of lawyers. Their point of view is that a funeral home is unsuited for a residential area and would contribute to unwanted commercial spread along Pantigo Road, the stretch of the Montauk Highway just east of the Village Sheep Pound.

At the risk of adding fuel to a fire, we disagree. Funeral homes are not commercial enterprises, but fall somewhere between medical facilities and churches. They are commonly found in residential districts, in small towns and large. Like ministers, funeral directors are called on to arrange services and burials and to comfort the bereaved. Other aspects of their work pertain to the physical remains. The clients of a funeral home happen not to be living, but they can still be considered residents, albeit transient ones.

While there may be minutiae in the East Hampton Village Zoning Code that could place the change envisioned for the building in doubt, the idea of using it as a funeral home is in keeping with the past. That would be a less intense use of the structure than a busy medical group and would occasion less traffic, less regularly.

Because most of us find it difficult to think about death and to be confronted by it, it is understandable that this proposal has its adversaries. Nevertheless death, although at the opposite end of the physical and emotional spectrum, is as much a part of life as birth and cannot be denied. A funeral home centrally located on Pantigo Road makes sense.