So, you thought the bad blood between the Las Olas neighbors – First Presbyterian Church and the Coolee Hammock neighborhood it resides in – was settled last week, when the two sides compromised on the Church’s plan to enlarge their facility? Eh?
NOT !!
Jackie Scott
The neighborhood’s President, Jackie Scott, and some of the neighborhood’s other leaders are totally miffed at the Church this week over another matter.
the Church
According to the neighborhood, the Church is leasing their parking lot ( zoned residential but grandfathered in to allow Church parking only) to a restaurant across the street (Rocco’s Tacos) in violation of City Code.
Church goers parking only ( and Taco eaters?)
And to make matters worse, according to Scott, the church’s Facilities Manager lied when asked if they were leasing the lot to Tacos. Scott said she approached the Church first, rather then go to the City, to see if she could get it settled between them, but was given false information.
So Scott and other activists approached the Valet Parkers the other evening to get the skinny, and were told they were parking the Taco Patrons cars in the church lot, with permission from the Church.
And the story gets quirkier! According to reports, the Church said something like ” we’re not really leasing the lot to Rocco’s, we’re letting them do it for free and they’re giving the Church a donation”! Unconfirmed reports put the “donation” at $1000. per month.
Scott says the Church is continually trying to be “bigger than it can be”, according to the area’s zoning. She calls the area “a village”, and wants it to stay that way.
I have a call out to the Church’s layperson on the parking matter, but haven’t heard back.
Something tells me we haven’t heard the last of this !
Thou Shalt Not Lie ….. To Jackie Scott !
/