Reprinted with permission from an HPPC member:
“I am writing today to side with your cause in convincing my church from constructing a parking lot that is not needed by our church, nor wanted by the surrounding community.
Our current church membership is much smaller today than in its heyday of the early 90’s, prior to the church split in membership (to Park Cities Presbyterian Church), when membership was at least a third more than it is now. The church was a lot busier then, and seemed to do fine with the current parking arrangements. Of course, the city allowed more parking on University Blvd then, but the street fire code was not as strict as it is now. It is my opinion, the neighbors in the local community surrounding the church have always been generous to allow parking in front of their homes on Sunday mornings when the need is the greatest. At other times of the week, parking is not a problem. To have a parking lot seven days a week is not necessary to the well being of the congregation. The change to this beautiful community will diminish the appeal of University Blvd. as a landmark of community setting. To see the impact of such a plan, you only need look at the north side of University Park United Methodist Church (4024 Caruth), and witness the whole sale destruction of homes for a parking lot on Colgate Avenue, adjacent to that church. Not only did the city lose property tax revenues, the community lost part of its presence. I think it would be a mistake to do the same to University Blvd. I’ve been a member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church since 1982 and generally approve of their decisions to improve the quality of our church. The decision for a new parking lot was made with little input, and limited feedback from the membership as a whole. It would not serve our purpose as a friendly and welcoming neighbor to our community. The neighborhood has been good to us, and we need to respond in kind with another solution to the “perceived” parking challenges.”
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