Dallas mega-church Friendship West Baptist has a court hearing Monday in a lawsuit to stop the construction of a warehouse within sight of the church.
The 200,000-square-foot warehouse would be on land near Polk Street with I-20 to the south and Wheatland Road to the north.
Apartments, single-family homes and Carter High School are just across from the site on Wheatland Road.
The developers are Stonelake Capital Partners and property owner SL6 Wheatland LLC.
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The church pastor Frederick Haynes III and neighbors went to Dallas City Hall in June to rally against the warehouse.
"Most of the people in my neighborhood are senior citizens that are right there in that area. We have a hard enough time trying to get out on Wheatland Road as it is,” neighbor Lovie Hawkins said.
The site is already zoned for commercial use.
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In November, the city of Dallas issued a building permit for the warehouse after denying it in August over truck route concerns.
The church filed the lawsuit in December trying to stop the use of the building permit.
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can, sometimes you have to put intelligence behind a decision,” resident Lorie Blair said at city hall in June.
Blair is also a member of the Dallas Plan Commission. She said Friday she is speaking only as a private citizen on this issue and will attend Monday’s court hearing on the case.
“If they decide to begin construction, they will find me laying down in front of any construction machines that try to begin construction on a distribution center,” Pastor Haynes said in June.
By text from out-of-town Friday, Haynes said he too will be at the hearing on Monday. He said a truck yard in the neighborhood is environmental racism, which he said the area has been victim to in the past.
Attorney Joel Reese who represents Stonelake said Friday morning that he needed to consult with his clients about NBC 5’s request for comment. He did not reply later.
In court documents, the company said there is no legal reason to block the warehouse and that Friendship West requested the current zoning on the property 22 years ago.
The church's request for an injunction said neighbors would suffer irreparable harm and the building permit should not have been issued.
The hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. Monday in the 160th District Court in the George Allen Court building.
