Supervisors Delay Church Shift Issue

Daily Review, Oct. 01, 1965

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Action on a permit to relocate the True Holiness Church in Christ from Russell City to Kelly Hill in the Hayward area was thwarted yesterday by a parliamentary standoff at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

With only the chairman and one other board member present, Supervisor Robert E. Hannon moved that the petition be granted. He got no second from Supervisor Kent Pursel, and the issue was continued for the presence of the entire board Oct. 28.

The church trustees propose to move the church, a 10-year old structure which many of them helped build, from its present site on Winton Avenue in the Russell City Redevelopment Area to a half-acre lot on the east side of Maud Avenue near its intersection with Kelly Street.

Opposing their proposal were a half dozen spokesmen for the Negro community in that area.

Harold Rogers, 23767 Maud Ave., told the board there are "too many Negro churches in this one area."

"We don't want too much of an influx of Negroes," he added.

NOT OPPOSED

Mrs. Floyd O'Connor, 3002 Hardeman St., spokesman for the Fairview Improvement club, said the club is not opposed to churches in the area, but "to the types of bulldings they move in."

"We have no objection to any creditable building being built there," she said.

Mrs. Taylor White, 2902 Hardeman St., said she "doesn't believe in Negro churches," pointing to two other so-called Negro churches in the same neighborhood.

Mrs. Norman Bradley, 2926 Hardeman St., charged that the True Holiness church has a "shaky financial background" and "would be no asset to the area."

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS

James O. Smith, 3329 Costa Drive, said traffic problems would arise if another church were located in the area.

Harry Spencer, chairman of the Alameda County Planning Commission and a member of the board of zoning adjustments, said the board turned down the church's application for a permit to relocate in the Kelly Hill area because it has a limited membership, most of whom come from outside the area. He said the board also considered problems of reconditioning the building.

Church trustees are appealing the board ruling.

They contend they can meet required building standards and provide the necessary 27 off street parking spaces to minimize traffic problems.

DENIED

They denied there are other churches conducting services in the area and Planning Director William Fraley confirmed this statement, pointing out, however, that one permit for a church in the area has been granted and another is pending hearing before the planning commission.

Mrs. Rose P. Blose, an Oakland investor who owns the Maud Avenue site, said she is selling it to the church for $5,000 down and $85 a month. She urged the supervisors to reverse the board ruling.

"I have observed the need for spiritual guidance in this area,' said E. L. Bassard, 24606 Fairview Ave., a member of the congregation, in support of the church's appeal.

CHURCH ENEMIES

Mrs. Tandy Stroud, 3015 Kelly St., charged that the church's "enemies" are "Johnny Come Latelies" in the area, who imply that "we're moving all the trash up from Russell City."

A leader in the Fairview are for 19 years herself, Mrs. Stroud said not quite half the members of the congregation come from Russell City.

"The property now is an eyesore, and this is a new building, built according to code," she said

It was a decision of the board of supervisors to redevelop Russell City that makes it necessary for the church to relocate, she reminded board members.

The board has granted church trustees permission to attempt to buy back the building from the Redevelopment Agency, but they must have a place to put it.

OPEN TO ALL

Other spokesmen for the church denied it is a "segregated" church. Both Negroes and Caucasians belong to the congregation they said, and membership is open to people of all races.

Also set over for further hearing on Oct. 28 were:

The City of Hayward's appeal from a board of zoning adjustments decision approving the application of Ernest Wheat for a use permit for an automobile wrecking yard at 3892 Depot Road.

The petition of Barbara Carleton for commercial rezoning on a half-acre residential site between Washington and Lorenzo avenues north of Grant Avenue, San Lorenzo, to permit construction of a medical office building. Opposing the proposal are two doctors who have built a medical-dental building within 450 feel of the site on Washington Avenue.

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