The Clearwater City Council has decided to not take action on a petition that sought to overturn its decision to hand over part of a downtown street to the Church of Scientology.
Thursday night’s decision followed the grassroots organization, Save the Garden, receiving 7,577 valid signatures on a petition opposing the city vacating part of South Garden Avenue.
The church wants to build its flagship L. Ron Hubbard Hall, an all-glass auditorium and plaza, on the property.
But the citizens group argued the land belongs to the people of Clearwater and strongly opposed any motion to give public street space to the private sector.
Clearwater resident and Save the Garden volunteer Lauren Golden said during the public comment portion of the meeting she hoped the council would hear the voices of residents and act on their behalf.
“I ask you to consider not just the proposal before you, but the public's interest in this proposal and their trust in the process itself,” Golden said.
However, acting on an opinion from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, the council voted 3-2 not to repeal its previous decision.
City Attorney Owen Kohler said approving the motion to repeal would violate Florida law because the state does not allow citizen petitions to change certain land development resolutions.
“If the garden vacation ordinance … believes the issue is that if it is repealed then that would conflict with state law because it relates to an initiative or referendum petition regarding a development order or land use regulation,” he said.
Council members also defended their decision not to allow a citizen referendum to vote on overturning the handover, saying that under their earlier vote, it did not give the church city land — it simply allowed the church to build on land it rightfully owned.
“We did not sell it to the Church of Scientology. They already owned it. All we were doing was giving them a vacation, a right-of-way,” council member David Allbritton said during Thursday’s meeting — his final on the council.
Before the vote, Mayor Bruce Rector called a recess after heavy backlash from attendees due to Allbritton’s comments about what he called the “real reason” residents opposed the handover.
“The repeated claims, and you all said it again tonight — there was really nothing about the street. It was all about your hate for Scientology,” Allbritton said.
The Church of Scientology later issued a statement supporting the decision.
“The Church of Scientology welcomes the City Council’s decision to reject the Save the Garden petition as unlawful, in accordance with the opinion issued today by the Florida Attorney General,” the statement said.
“THE ATTORNEY GENERAL HAS CONFIRMED WHAT THE CHURCH HAS MAINTAINED ALL ALONG: THIS PETITION IS UNLAWFUL. Florida law prohibits the proposed referendum, and the City cannot proceed with it.
“The Council has acted in accordance with that legal guidance, upholding its lawful approval of the Garden Avenue vacation.
“THE LAW HAS PREVAILED. L. RON HUBBARD HALL IS MOVING FORWARD.”
Save the Garden remains committed to the fight. Campaign director Brooks Gibbs told WFTS-TV the group plans to challenge the council's vote in court, hoping to leave the final decision to a judge.
"We have no choice but to defend the 7,500 signatures, and we have to do that in the court of law," Gibbs said.
