“The street has been the location of the oldest black Church in the city, in existence [for] over 100 years,” Holmes wrote. “Jerusalem is the name of the present church located there, for the last 34 years. Jerusalem is a sacred city of Israel.”

Before the Planning Commission, Holmes argued that the name change had a practical purpose in that it would help alleviate confusion for people since there are two Slaughter Streets within the city. Second, the church had concerns about the “negative connotations” of the word slaughter with regard to its address, he said. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the street name change.

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