Houston Churches Battling Eminent Domain

Two 5th ward churches are in a brewing eminent domain battle over property that the Houston Housing Authority would like to develop for low income housing and a library. This story has it all- historic churches, a wheel chair bound pastor, and a city relying on recommendations from the neighborhood itself.

The churches: 

• First Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church
• Latter Day Deliverance Revival Church

The legal actions:

• The churches, representated by the Liberty Institute, are seeking to stop the seizure of their land.
• The city says:
  • Only pursuing eminent domain against the Latter Day Revival Church
  • Negotiating, without using eminent domain, with First Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church
  • And that they relied on recommendations from the Fifth Ward Redevelopment Corporation for the project

Let’s not forget the KY judge, who in 2014  stopped eminent domain at the trial court level because a church’s First amendment rights trump that of a government’s eminent domain authority.

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