Parking lot won’t hide massive condo

I was alarmed recently while driving along Flagler Drive when I saw not only major earth-moving equipment on the waterfront property where a 22-story condo will rise, but the razing and digging activit y on the property adjacent to First Baptist Church.

All was revealed with your Friday story in The Post (“First Baptist razes buildings”). I breathed a sigh of relief that the property south of the church is not being developed into yet another high-rise, but they are merely clearing space for a parking lot that will be handsomely planted to create, in Pastor Kevin Mahoney’s words, a “beautiful landscape and trees that will accentuate the beautiful propert y God’s given us.”

He also declares that this beautification project will make it a much more pleasant ride along Flagler Drive. Well, I have always enjoyed the charming view of the water beyond the almost invisible Chapel by the Lake. The thought of a behemoth 22-story condo in its place — let’s not even think of the ugly inconvenience of its lengthy construction mess — does not fill me with “pleasant ride” joy.

The church sold the Chapel by the Lake propert y to the developer for more than $20 million.

Sold: one bucolic chapel. Gained: one parking lot, beautifully landscaped. Oh, yes, and an inspirational view of a 22-story condo for the church. tice should not be held up by political posturing.

In February, President Barack Obama selected Mary Barzee-Flores as the nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Barzee-Flores is well-qualified for the position: She served as a circuit judge for Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami for almost a decade, deciding criminal and civil cases.

Earlier, in 1988, she had graduated cum laude from the Universit y of Miami School of Law, then worked in the Federal Public Defender’s Office for 13 years before becoming a judge. Given these qualifications, she would be a wise choice.

However, the seat remains vacant almost three months after the nomination. That’s almost three months that the court has been understaffed, building up a backlog of work.

For almost three months, justice has been held up for residents of South Florida, because Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has not called a hearing to confirm the president’s nominee.

I hope Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson put pressure on Grassley to call a hearing to confirm Barzee-Flores. Justice for Floridians should not be delayed due to political obstructionism.