Clearwater group petitions city council to reconsider turning road over to Church of Scientology
Group fights street transfer to Church of Scientology
A grassroots group in Clearwater submitted a petition with thousands of signatures in an effort to keep a road from being handed over to the Church of Scientology. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A grassroots group in Clearwater submitted a petition with thousands of signatures in an effort to keep a road from being handed over to the Church of Scientology.
The group, Save the Garden, says it submitted about 8,000 signatures to the city on Wednesday.
City's previously approved plan
The backstory:
Clearwater City Council voted 3 to 2 in June to vacate S. Garden Avenue and transfer ownership to the Church of Scientology.
Church representatives said the street is surrounded by church-owned property and is part of its $250 million L. Ron Hubbard Hall project.
Advocates push back
What they're saying:
Activists argue that the street serves as a vital access point in downtown Clearwater and helps ease beach traffic.
They're urging City Council to reconsider its decision to vacate the street. Leaders with Save the Garden worry that this won't be the last piece of property the city sells.
"We are not here to divide Clearwater," Save the Garden representative Brooks Gibbs said. "In fact, this effort has been the most unifying project of its kind. For the love of Clearwater and for the sake of future development of our downtown core, we have united to take back control of public land transfers and street vacations."
Gibbs says S. Garden Avenue is under construction as crews survey and study the land underneath it.
He says submitting the petition freezes the land transfer for the time being. The group is also requesting that the Supervisor of Elections validates the signatures.
Gibbs says, if council members don't reconsider the decision, they hope it's ultimately left up to voters.
Church of Scientology responds
The other side:
The Church of Scientology says construction on the road has been underway since the beginning of August and work has begun to clear the surrounding land for its larger project.
"Save the Garden has been down this road before," Sarah Heller, a representative with the Church of Scientology said. "Its previous petition was rejected as insufficient. It then sued the City and sought an injunction. The federal court denied that request, and Save the Garden subsequently dismissed its case. Now they are back with another petition and the same misleading portrayal of Garden Avenue. The portion at issue is not a major downtown thoroughfare. It is a short section of roadway surrounded by approximately 15 acres owned by the Church and its parishioners."
Future decisions unclear
What we don't know:
City council members haven't indicated whether they will reconsider the street transfer or allow local voters to decide the issue on a future ballot.
Discussion planned
What's next:
City Council has an item on its agenda for Thursday's meeting for the city attorney to provide direction on potential next steps.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Save the Garden representative Brooks Gibbs, who detailed the petition filing and community response, as well as an official statement from the Church of Scientology.