Group that took on Diocese, private developer, now wants to help San Jose community
A small Lower Valley community took on a developer and the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, and won a huge victory with very little fanfare.
Empowered and emboldened, the community group now wants to help a neighboring group with it’s battle.
Homeowners in the Lower Valley neighborhood formed a group called La Playa Neighborhood Association.
Many homes have large yards, some as big as an acre, and many homeowners say they like their rural space.
So when the Diocese tried selling the land to a developer who wanted to build multiple homes, side-by-side, La Playa fought back against both the developer and the church, because the diocese owns the land.
“We won, we won,” proclaimed Fabiola Campos, homeowner and a member of La Playa.
With victory in hand, they now want to help another group, only three miles away, who wants the San Jose Catholic Church rebuilt.
The inside of the old San Jose church started forming cracks inside the building, eventually partially collapsing. Eventually, the church was demolished, leaving parishioners without a church.
Homeowners trying to resurrect the San Jose church say the diocese told them the space where it once stood is not big enough. In the past, the Diocese has also said there were very few parishioners attending the old San Jose church.
“That would be the perfect place for the San Jose church,” responded Campos, referring to the plot of land La Playa fought to keep undeveloped.
La Playa says the Diocese already owns the land and there is no need to purchase another lot.
Jorge Vergen, a spokesman for the Diocese, told ABC-7 the diocese wants to sell that land, and either build a school or break it up and sell one acre lots. The Diocese said it is willing to build a small chapel in the San Jose lot, just not a church.
Campos says they’ve taken on the church before and helping San Jose parishioners with their plight means taking on the church again. “We’ll do it again. That’s where we live,” Campos said.
