Concerned resident

Thanks for the update in the Jan. 20 edition of The Alabama Baptist on the sale of the Taylor Road property by the State Board of Missions (“SBOM awaits appeal decision in land dispute”). In 2009, SBOM leaders said the way to settle who has the authority to approve what kind of development goes on the Taylor Road property is to go to court and seek a declarative judgment. After lengthy litigation (almost two years) and terrific costs to my neighbors (not to mention the SBOM), The Alabama Baptist pointed out, the circuit court ruled in favor of my Halcyon Forest neighborhood. I thought that settled it. Then came the decision by the SBOM to go back to court, have the circuit judge vacate his ruling and seek a new trial. By now, my neighborhood is devastated and left wondering what kind of “witness we Baptists portray.”  

Please allow me to make one correction to the article. It stated, “When the SBOM purchased the property in 1986 for potential relocation, it agreed to have development plans approved by the original owners.” According to the ruling of the Circuit Court of Montgomery County and copies of the deed, the “grantee (the Baptist convention) agrees that the development of subject property shall be according to an overall development plan to be approved by the Halcyon Architectural Review Board, said approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.”

As people of our word, we Alabama Baptists should stand by what we agreed to.  

Mickey Castleberry
Alabama Baptist pastor and resident of Halcyon Forest neighborhood
Montgomery, Ala.