Michael Jackson will not be buried at Neverland Ranch [Updated]

[Updated at 1:30 p.m.: A representative of Colony Capital, the private equity firm that owns Neverland Ranch, approached Santa Barbara County officials about burying Michael Jackson at the site, an attorney for the county confirmed. Officials researched the request and found that the bureaucratic hurdles on the state and local level for interment on property that wasn’t designated a cemetery were extensive.

“We have not seen [such a burial] in recent decades,” the county lawyer, Michael Ghizzoni, said. “Based on our contacts with the state, we think it would be a process of months, not weeks.”]

Funeral arrangements for Michael Jackson are still in flux, but one thing is clear: The pop icon will not be buried at Neverland Ranch.

Jackson’s family wanted him interred at the Santa Barbara County estate, the site of some of the happiest and saddest times in his life, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had agreed to help clear any state bureaucratic hurdles, a source close to the situation told The Times.

But in the end, the source said, county officials could not find a way to quickly circumvent legal restrictions governing burial at a private residence.

"It’s nobody’s fault. Everybody in Santa Barbara feels bad about it,” the source said.

Law enforcement officials had expressed concerns about thousands of cars driving up a narrow mountain road to Neverland.

Santa Barbara County sheriff's Lt. Butch Arnoldi said that the two-lane Figueroa Mountain Road is not designed for a crush of cars and that his department is discussing how to make the route to Neverland as safe as possible.

There have also been reports the memorial might be held at Staples Center.

Santa Barbara County spokesman William Boyer said Wednesday that despite meetings to prepare for the possibility of a memorial service, county officials had not heard from the Jackson family.

"There's been no decisions that have been made as of last night," Boyer said. He said the county and sheriff's officials had been in touch with their law enforcement counterparts in Southern California.

LAPD officials said Tuesday that they met with the Jackson family but that no final decision had been made on either a memorial service or funeral plans.

-- Harriet Ryan and Andrew Blankstein

Photos: Fans grieve worldwide

Photos: Michael Jackson, 1958-2009

Video: Celebrating Michael Jackson's legacy

Interactive map: See significant sites in the life and death of Michael Jackson, including Neverland Ranch and his boyhood home in Gary, Indiana.

Comments

[SeanBoy]

Just shoot him off into space on one of those rocket thing and into an elliptical orbit that will bring him around Earth once every 70 years or so.

[Helen Hill]

Jackson will be interred there eventually. Bet on it.

[Brian C.]

Finally someone had the smarts to stop this madness.

[fabgear]

Oh please, they are delusional to think that Neverland can be like Graceland. Too far, too remote.

[Sally]

Just as well. Go to a place where the urban systems can control the visitors and where more people can afford to visit. Why not Forest Lawn? Everyone knows where it is.

[Rene]

Why don't the continue to tackle the legal hurdles and bury him there once they are cleared? Do a temporary burial and then bring him to Neverland for a final burial? So he was controversial. Let them bury him in a place that made him happy. It's what we all ask for and it would make his family happy.

[Uncle Dog]

Thank you God!!! Mr. Jackson is not to be buried at Neverland!

No, "everybody in Santa Barbara" does NOT feel bad about that. Let us now hope that the idiotic idea of a "viewing session" is also cancelled. Figueroa Mountain Road is narrow, winding, and with absolutely NO public facilities. There is not even a decent turnaround area in front of his property -- it is essentially a dead end street. The nearest "rest stop" are four porta potties in Los Olivos, six miles down the road. 100,000+ visitors on Friday? Are you out of your mind!!??

His birthplace, Gary, IN, has asked that he be buried there. That makes so much more sense than a remote spot in California which is hard to find, hard to access. Gary is perfect, and could use the money from visitors. Do it.

[Lue Blacknell]

R.I.P. MICHAEL-YOUR MUSIC LIVES ON!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daniel Wilcox]

He should be cremated and the ashes given to his family. If the corpse is buried there are way to many ghoulish fans who might try and steal the body for publicity.

[carlsbadcrawler]

He'll be laid to rest somewhere that charges admission. Do I hear an opening bid?

[David Lacy]

There is a way for Michael Jackson to be buried at Neverland Ranch. State law allows anyone to be buried on property owned or long term leased to a church. The owners could create a legal description of a parcel area( need not be a seperate legal parcel) and deed it to a church(any church) and then he could be buried there and the family would have te right to oversee its' upkeep and care.

[Littlejohn]

Why not have the ceremony in Q2 arena in London at the 13 of July? That would be a cool thing to do :-)

[Tiberius]

Or, why not cremate him and scatter his ashes by helicopter all over the people standing in line at Disneyland for the Captain EO ride? Oh wait, they closed that ride years ago....Otherwise perhaps he should be frozen like Lenin and a new museum/mausoleum opened in Hollywood.

[TAmbrose]

Of course he should make one last visit to Neverland, and what ironic justice to have a million people pay their last respects to a true prince; contrary to that malevolent DA Sneddon and the 200 law enforcement folk he pressed into service to hunt down this wild killer. Now Sneddon is free to collect his $200K pension on us and hopefully feel the pain he has caused a truely great artist.

[Big Sam]

The amount of news coverage on Michael Jackson's death has now reached a level that makes American news journalism look like a joke.

How many major stories have now taken a backseat because of the seemingly endless amount of coverage of M.J.'s death?

1) Iran came very close to having an internal revolution after the elections in that country and even today bad feelings runs through the populace like a plague.

2) Not since the days of Allende, Trujillo and other has their been a 'banana republic' revolution like the one that happened in the Honduras.

3) The Russians want to enter into a 'cyberwarfare' treaty with the U.S. that has not been so admantly been one sided since the heady days of Khrushchev and Brezhnev and the posturing of the old Soviet Union viz-a-viz the U.S.

And there are still a lot of other news that certainly is more important now than further coverage of Michael Jackson's death.
No wonder the world looks upon the U.S. as having "dumbed down" over the past twenty years.

[Jany]

Elvis was buried at Forest Hilla Cemetery in Memphis originally and then interred at Graceland. Such arrangements take time.

[matt]

i agree with the first comment - make him like lenin and create a new attraction in hollywood so throngs of people can veiw it. and charge like hell for it and divert some funds to the state or other cash strapped municipality. H-wood is a fitting place for him b/c he was all plastic anyway and is a mascot for our degenerative culture where celebrity is worshiped more than monarchy - they certinly are above the law that's for sure. they should just create a new secular church in h-wood with him as a centerpiece.

[KIMMY]

Some of you people are heartless,this is a human...So keep your stupid ideals..Rest in Peace Michael

[ANGEL1119]

The world has some of the most ignorant and hateful people in the world. A man has lost his life and all you dumb asses can do is make fun of him even in his death. That sad fact is that people seem to forget that he is a human being and all he ever wanted was for people to accept him and love him and if you did not not then why get on here and sham his name?? Does it make you feel good to do so?? I feel sorry for all of you who has no life and are quick to judge, Be careful about judging people, because you too shall be judged. One day you willl die too. MJ rest in peace!

[Socrates]

I'm not sure who owns Neverland now, but why should they and any neighbors have to deal with the circus that would ensue from burying MJ there and from maintaining it as a memorial site? I bet from the minute he was interred until Doomsday crazy people would be camping out and climbing over the fence. The kind of people who choose to live on such an isolated road probably would not welcome the increased traffic and scrutiny that would inevitably come to the area and they should not have to. It is private property and as much as Neverland meant to him, he unfortunately lost it due to his own financial missteps.

[Jamie Roth]

That's too bad that all the bureaucracy will keep Michael from being buried in Neverland Ranch.
There is absolutely NO reason why the process can't be sped up to allow him to rest in peace there. I understand the traffic will be a nightmare, along with many locals and the Police department being "concerned", but this is a ONE TIME thing for an individual who was bigger than any other artist in History.

[jgny]

as long as the jackson family and the hangerons (truthbrothers), can keep this nonsense going they will. (remember james brown), the benefits for them, Album sales and such is a major fiancial benefit. They probably wiped out his debt due to his current album sales and and are looking to reap a hugh long term benefit. I His folks went belly up five years ago. His brothers are all broke, the only one who held on was janet. Now they can all reap the benefit for sitting on their butts when Michael did all the work during the 80"s.

[Let the games begin]

"He" will not BE anywhere. His soul, or whatever spark we have, is gone. You are only talking about a place to bury his mortal remains. Go to an old cemetery and look at the very old tombstones and realize in the scheme of things, identification of your mortal over time remains is just plain silly. Probably it will be a place where these thousands of "fans" can be dramatic. How about this for a memorial.... some of the brighter of you create a "Michael Jackson Foundation", for say, feeding starving children or providing kids with access to the arts or something. Then all of you dig deep into your pockets and donate something like cash in addition to your time. Otherwise, you are just a bunch of drama-seeking, hanger-ons with no actual contributing life of your own. Go do something in his name. What would Michael have you do?

[ed]

Obama should sign an executive order and have him buried at Arlington Cemetery in Washington. He was a leader of a cultural movement in the United States, and deserves recognition of that by Washington's political powers.

[Kelly M.]

I think that Michael Jackson should be buried at Neverland Ranch. I don't see why they can't allow it considering he was the king of pop. Also, why wasn't there any way to freeze him like they did with Walt Disney?