Old Westbury Mayor Marina Chimerine said the local law she proposed on Monday “in essence says you can’t bury an individual in the backyard.”

Chimerine said the village is drafting the new law after having received numerous inquiries from residents asking to bury family members in their backyard, as is permitted by New York State.

“That it’s not appropriate for our village for health reasons, but it’s open to public comments,” Chimerine said.

The law is not expected to extend to pets.

“You generally do not embalm a pet,” said Trustee Cory Baker, a doctor. “Its also hard to monitor somebody who may want to bury their beloved parakeet in the backyard versus someone who’s going to be digging a massive hole. I would think at least six to eight feet deep and so on, so on and so forth. And I’d hope they would not be burying, if they were to bury a human, without at least having a coffin.”

The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed law at the village’s next meeting on Sept. 18.