Clearwater City Council debates selling the Church of Scientology a city-owned street

Clearwater City Council differs on street sale

FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports on the Clearwater City Council's differing opinions on the terms of negotiating the sale of a city street to the Church of Scientology.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Clearwater City Council discussed the next steps in a potential sale of a downtown street to the Church of Scientology in a work session Monday.

The city owns the strip of land in question on South Garden Avenue between Court Street and Franklin Street. Council members said they agreed to discuss a possible sale with the Church but differed on what that sale could look like.

"This is a perfect example, and a prime example, of why this isn’t only such a tough discussion to have is because the fear and the willingness to not speak about these issues in front of the public is probably what got us here the last 40 or 50 years," Councilman Mike Mannino said. "Whether we agree or disagree, respectfully having these discussions is probably in the best interest of every one of the citizens out there, whether they agree with the decision or not."

The backstory:

Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector said the Church of Scientology indicated about a year ago they wanted the city to close the street, wanting to build an auditorium right next to the land the city owns.

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"I talked about activation and open access, and I actually did see renderings of the entertainment center that I was talking about. The bowling alley, the amusement, as well as the movie theater," Councilwoman Lina Teixeira said. "And again, I asked, ‘this is beautiful. Can we have it in writing and activation,’ and of course, he refused."

Map view of South Garden Avenue between Court Street and Franklin Street.

Teixeira continued, "I left the meeting feeling very conflicted. On the one hand, I felt that I wasn't successful in negotiating what I thought would be a good deal for our city, which is open access and activation. But on the other hand, I also felt good that I was given the opportunity to have a really candid conversation about what I felt would be a good partnership."

Dig deeper:

Council members will vote Thursday on whether to approve the sale.

The current negotiated agreement says the Church would pay the city $1,375,000.00. They’ll also vote Thursday on whether to close the street if city leaders agree to sell it to the Church.

The Clearwater City Council debating the next steps in selling the Church of Scientology a city street.

"This is a street that gets used every day," Rector said.

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Rector said that public parking fees from spots on the street also generate more than $30,000 a year for the city.

The proposed sale agreement also says the Church would have to get the necessary building permits to build the auditorium by Dec. 31, 2029, and have most of the construction done by Dec. 31, 2031.

Representatives from the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority also spoke during the work session regarding the need for another traffic light in that area if the street is sold.

Big picture view:

Council members added that the potential sale would mean eliminating a street that connects downtown.

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"I think we should be careful in thinking short term, and not thinking long term about what closing that street could mean to access to all the downtown, which we want to make prosper," Rector said.

"If the deal terms I felt like were favorable overall to the citizens of Clearwater, I would support it if we could have gotten a deal. The deal terms in this are not what I think make it valuable enough to the citizens to approve it," Rector said.

What's next:

The City Council’s meeting on Thursday is at 6 p.m.

The Source: FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story.

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