Yahweh leader's ex-wife to open mobile home park

By Anthony Wilson

Yisryal Hawkins' ex-wife plans to develop a mobile home park on land she inherited in her divorce settlement.

Abilene planning and zoning commissioners on Monday ap- proved a zone change to let Kay Hawkins build a "mobile home subdivision" on 2.8 acres in the 900 block of Midway. Mrs. Haw- kins, the former wife of the House of Yahweh cult leader, wants to slice the land into 13 lots and offer them for sale.

"The only opposition I've heard is that mobile homes are junky things," she told commissioners. "That property can be developed no other way. No one wants to live next to the House of Yahweh."

Ten neighboring acres were once the site of the cult's sanc- tuary. The property, now mostly pasture land, still houses the sect's printing operation, where all its literature is produced.

The group worships in a com pound in Eula.

Mrs. Hawkins got her acreage when she and her husband split three years ago. Though six neighbors opposed the zone change, Yisryal Hawkins wasn't among them.

"I really don't think he's in opposition to my doing the best I can," his ex said afterward. "We were married for 21 years."

But she claimed she could charge 25 percent more rent for four houses on her property if not for their proximity to the House of Yahweh, regarded as one of the nation's largest doomsday cults.

Still, Mrs. Hawkins believes her subdivision will attract mo- bile home owners.

"People who have mobile homes will love the opportunity to buy property close to down- town, but that's still secluded," she said. "It's pretty nice there."

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