A. After a declaration has been filed pursuant to § 57-39.21, the restriction may be removed in accordance with this section by order of the circuit court for the locality where the land is located in a proceeding brought by the pet cemetery owner or his heirs or assigns.

B. The circuit court may remove the restriction on the land upon proof satisfactory to the court that either of the following has occurred:

1. No interments have been made in the land from which the restriction is sought to be removed; or

2. If, after notice sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of a person who owns a burial right in a pet cemetery, the owner of the pet cemetery has received from such persons written authorization, acknowledged before a notary public, to remove the restriction from the land. If no response is received by the cemetery owner after thirty days from the date of the notice, consent to remove the restriction from the land shall be presumed. Any person granting this authorization who wishes to have a pet that is already interred in the pet cemetery removed and reinterred elsewhere shall so state on the authorization, and the pet cemetery owner shall provide proof of this removal and reinterment. A pet cemetery owner need not obtain the authorization described in this subdivision from a person who has purchased a burial right in the pet cemetery but who has not yet used that right for the interment of a pet, if the owner refunds to the purchaser or his heirs or assigns all moneys taken for the burial right, plus interest accrued in six-month increments, at a rate equal to the Federal Reserve Board discount rate as of January 1 of each year, beginning January 1, 1996.

C. A holder of a lien on the restricted land may object to the removal of the restriction, and the circuit court shall consider any such objection before issuing an order to remove the restriction.

D. An order issued by the circuit court removing a restriction pursuant to this section shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the locality where the land is located. The clerk shall record the order in the deed book.

1996, c. 957.