While my heart goes out to the parents and friends, as a mom and a homeowner, I'd have to side with the homeowners. Your soul is not at the scene of your demise and a cross to memorialize your loved one could be placed anywhere, if all you truly want to do is memorialize them. If you want it on public display, put it in your own yard where your friends and loved ones can visit it. As for all of the others who say these memorials are commonplace, most of them are a distraction to motorists and are usually decaying over time and become eventual eyesores. I would not want to be reminded of someone dying out side of my house. I would not want a memorial erected outside of my house. I would perhaps leave a memorial up for a couple of weeks and then take it down. That said, I would have reservations about leaving anything that large on my property for more than 2 weeks. To those who want it there permanently, think of it this way: say it's your house and your now selling it. One of the first things your realtor would tell you to do is to get rid of the cross, it will only hurt your property value. Who wants to buy the house where people died? People are reluctant to buy the house people died in, which is why you don't want to have to list that on your seller's disclosure. And, if I were the homeowner, I would have to appeal the township's decision. Perhaps a memorial garden or tree planting with small plaque would be the way to go for both of these families, a much more eye-pleasing, less-controvertial means of expression.
