By SJ Otto
A Mega church is planning to build housing, an amphitheater and many
other facilities- and all of this at the objection of close by neighbors.
According to The
Wichita Eagle, there is a:
complex that will back up onto the
Willo-Esque neighborhood in west Wichita, shortly before planners approved the
project and sent it on to the City Council.
The new development will include 180 patio
homes and apartments, a 165,000-square-foot event center, a 500-700 seat
outdoor amphitheater, a school, a youth/fitness center and athletic fields.
It’s planned for 33 acres of vacant land just west of the existing church
buildings at 6100 W. Maple, near the west bank of the Big Ditch….
And there have been complaints:
…. The plan has so far encountered little
opposition and passed unanimously at the District Advisory Board Wednesday. But
at the Planning Commission hearing Thursday, three neighbors questioned what it
will mean for their lives.
“I’m very concerned about light, noise,”
said neighbor Joan Flynn, who’s worried how it will affect the value of her
home.
“Even with just the church being over
there, they every once in a great while light it up like a Christmas tree and
it’s annoying,” she said. “When I hear there’s going to be a sports field and
an amphitheater (and) that the amphitheater would close at midnight, gosh, you
know, we have kids in that neighborhood that don’t stay up till midnight and I
am very concerned.”
The first thing we have to wonder is why a church needs so much
property developed. Would Jesus, in his time, become a multi-millionaire
capitalist? Why does any church need so much property and income? That seems
not to be the reason for a church in the first place. And these mega churches
are gaudy anyway.
The other issue is why the city always has to take the side of
developers even when the people around them don’t want the development. The
answer is easy. This is a city, like many, where the elected leaders are in the
pockets of the developers. The developers own city hall and all who serve. They
owe their careers to the developers. Until we can get some people elected in
city hall that work for the people and not the corrupted interests, that’s how
things will be.
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