Drake Gets Month to Get Up to Code

The Planning Commission has given the First Southern Baptist Church and its leader, the Rev. Wiley Drake, one more month to correct code violations at the church in order to have its conditional-use permit for the construction of a homeless shelter renewed.

In March the commission ordered Drake to correct the code violations, such as the storage of inoperable vehicles, before it would consider renewing its permit to build a shelter next to the church.

The original permit, issued in 1998, expired at the end of 1999, and the commission was reluctant to issue Drake and the church a new one because little progress had been made on the shelter. .

Drake agreed to the commission’s demands, but because the project relies solely on donations of labor and money, one month was not enough time to finish the project, he said.

“We just ran out of time,” Drake said. “We had to get volunteers to do the work, and we had to get donations of both money and materials to get the job done, and we just didn’t make it.”

In 1996 the city cited Drake for building and health code violations, allowing homeless people to sleep in cars and patios on church grounds. He was convicted of four misdemeanor counts. and sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service and three years probation.

Drake wants the shelter to be used as a place where the homeless can get medical attention and have a more stable existence.

“We’re a church,” he said. “And as such we’re here to help people. . . . Every basic need a person may have we will provide for.”

The commission will meet again May 10 to decide if the church can proceed with the shelter.

Andre Briscoe can be reached at (714) 966-5848.