Church Land Was on Loan

* In the April 29 article about residents of an equestrian neighborhood fighting a church school’s expansion, a point should be clarified.

For many years Orange Park Acres was a rural area of orange groves and chicken ranches.

In the 1960s, as the ranchers were wanting to retire, the ranches were sold to those who wanted large home sites, frequently to those who wanted to have horses.

In the early 1960s the rancher and his wife who owned the property at Santiago Canyon Road and Orange Park Boulevard requested and received a variance in zoning so they could sell their property to the Lutheran Church for a church and school. The church bought the property in the mid-1960s, and construction was begun on Salem Lutheran Church.

The land where the community park and equestrian arena was located is church land that was to be eventually developed for church and school use.

In the interim, the community was permitted to create the park and equestrian facility, and the community made use of it for about 10 years.

KATHLEEN VOSHALL

Orange