Baptist church gains approval to demolish former Kitchens home

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 9/22/22

The First Baptist Church of Mineola has obtained a demolition permit for the vacant home at 303 N. Johnson Street, known as the Kitchens home.

The city Landmark Commission voted 5-2 in favor of the request last Thursday, and the Mineola City Council gave the final approval on Monday on a 6-1 vote.

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Baptist church gains approval to demolish former Kitchens home

Posted

The First Baptist Church of Mineola has obtained a demolition permit for the vacant home at 303 N. Johnson Street, known as the Kitchens home.

The city Landmark Commission voted 5-2 in favor of the request last Thursday, and the Mineola City Council gave the final approval on Monday on a 6-1 vote.

Bill Self with the church facility committee spoke at both meetings and said that the church had purchased the property from the Kitchens estate in 2008 with the intent of razing it to accommodate additional parking.

He said the family was aware of the church’s intentions at the time, and the home did not have any national, state or local historic designations.

He said the only trees on the property that will be impacted by the demolition are those on the raised portion of the lot. The rest will be intact along with the well-known bluebonnet patch at Blair and Johnson.

He said the home is unrepairable without considerable expense.

No one spoke in opposition to the plans at the Landmark Commission meeting.

Members Sue Jones and Joyce Williams cast the dissenting votes.

Though Chairman Jimmy Phillips voted in favor, he said that any time the community loses an historic structure, it is a loss.

He said that in his 26 years on the commission, finances are the primary reason for older buildings to fall into disrepair.

Jones said the commission has not been prudent in keeping watch for historic structures and allowing them to decline.

She repeated those remarks at the city council meeting and cast the dissenting vote, adding that the move is setting a very bad precedent for future demolition cases.

Vic Savelli spoke at the council meeting. He wanted to reaffirm his stance that the home is repairable, and most of that would be replacing things that have been removed.

He added that he did not think anyone believed that the house wasn’t going to be torn down.

He said he was greatly disappointed that the council had approved changes to the bylaws that would allow for a simple majority to approve a contested matter and that facilitated the house being torn down.

He also said the matter was laden with conflicts of interest.

Mayor Jayne Lankford noted that the changes were made at the recommendation of the city attorney. They were discussed at length at the Sept. 12 meeting.

Pastor Phillip Casper said he felt like the church had been a good neighbor to the city, allowing its parking lot to be used for community events and access to the public restroom at Peterson Park.

He said the mandate from the church’s 650 members  is to pursue this project, and that democracy has no place where personal/private property rights are concerned.

He said the church would like to have a little room to grow.