The Suffolk Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended removing three church properties from the Historic Conservation District on the grounds that they are not especially historical.

First Baptist Church Mahan Street had lobbied to have three properties it owns removed from the historic district during a wholesale review the city undertook of areas proposed for removal from the district.

It was unsuccessful at the time because city staff want the district to remain continuous, Planning Director Scott Mills said. He continued to recommend on Tuesday that the properties not be removed.

“I believe it would break the continuity of the historic district,” he said.

The properties at 403, 409 and 415 N. Main St. are owned by the church. One used to be the parsonage.

However, a man who spoke on behalf of the church at the meeting said at least one of the buildings is in bad repair and the church is having trouble keeping them in shape.

“It would take extensive money and work to bring it up to code,” Harvey Whitney said.

He said the church hoped to be able to renovate at least one building and use it as an educational center for tutoring and other activities. Renovation is usually less expensive when a building is not in the Historic Conservation District because it does not have to use certain materials.

The church also would like a larger parking lot, which would require demolition of one or two of the buildings.

Mills noted that the church could apply to the Historic Landmarks Commission for permission to renovate with modern-looking materials or demolish the buildings. If it denied the application, the church could appeal to City Council.

But some members of the Planning Commission did not want to make the church jump through those hoops, as Arthur Singleton put it.

“I just have trouble leaving them in the historic district and creating a hardship for the church,” he said.

The commission voted 6-0 to recommend removing the buildings from the district. Commissioner William Goodman abstained because he is a member of the church.

The request will go to City Council for approval.

In other business at the meeting, the commission unanimously recommended an approval of a conditional use permit to lease about 2,000 square feet of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on North Main Street to a private school and child daycare center.

The daycare operator, Nneka Okala, said she has been operating the Greenbrier Montessori School in Chesapeake for 13 years. She hopes to open the school inside St. Paul’s in September.

Also at the meeting, Howard Benton, chairman of the Suffolk Planning Commission, presented a resolution of appreciation on behalf of the commission to the family of Sylvester Jones, who served on the commission for nearly 16 years before his death in January.

His wife Margaret Jones said her husband was “very true” to the commission, even coming to meetings when he was sick. Her husband missed the January meeting because he felt weak, she said, and died later that same evening.

“We are very grateful for the acquaintance we had with Sylvester,” Benton said.