Florida attorney general steps into Scientology land debate
The church withdrew its request to purchase the city-owned street in May after a group offered a counter proposal that would memorialize African American history. What seemed like a hyper-local debate over the future of Scientology's downtown footprint has now caught the attention of Florida's attorney general.
James Uthmeier sent a letter to Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector last month about the sale of a portion of South Garden Avenue. Despite never using the word 'Scientology' in his letter, he wrote that comments Rector made during a recent city council work session suggest an 'unconstitutional' position against the church.
'My role as the state's chief legal officer compels me to caution you in this instance because it appears discriminatory motives could taint the Council's decision making,' Uthmeier's letter stated. 'If discrimination forms a basis for any decision to reject or place restrictions on approval, such a decision would run afoul of Florida law.'
He wrote that his office had learned the city may agree to vacate the land on the condition that the Church develops its other downtown properties, a condition that he claimed violates a 1978 attorney general opinion.
Companies tied to the Church of Scientology have purchased at least 200 properties within Clearwater's downtown since 2017.
Residents and city council members opposed to the church purchasing more land say Scientology's properties are empty storefronts that have stunted downtown's growth.
Rector, Clearwater's mayor, said the facts in the attorney general's letter were incorrect. He learned from Uthmeier's office that a letter was coming, he said, but didn't know exactly what it would say.
This week, Rector said he spoke with Uthmeier's office to explain the situation and correct assumptions.
'We're not adversaries in this,' Rector said. 'It's a local issue. They're not going to get involved in a local issue, but they did receive a complaint.'
Rector doesn't know who sent the complaint, although he has an idea, he said.
The attorney general's office didn't respond immediately to requests for comment.
Danaya Wright, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida, said the city council has to make decisions that are in the best interest of its community — selling publicly owned land to a private entity is hard to get back, so doing so needs to be done carefully.
'I don't think the (city) has an obligation to bend over backwards to give them publicly owned land,' Wright said, 'as long as they're not privileging one religion over another, or discriminating against one religion over another, which is not the case.'
The city council has to assess how this entity has used the other property it owns and what the taxpayer benefits are, she said.
'If it has made promises about development and then not done so, then that's relevant information,' Wright said.
Brooks Gibbs, a part of the Save the Garden Coalition, which is proposing a plan that will memorialize African-American history in Clearwater, published a statement in response to the attorney general's letter.
'We intend to meet with city officials to discuss the next steps in bringing The Garden Memorial to life through a public-private partnership, while keeping the street in full use for Clearwater's citizens,' Gibbs wrote. 'We are continuing to move forward with determination.'
Rector said Uthmeier's office is not taking any action.
And right now, the city isn't looking to do so either.
'It's an active street,' Rector said. 'I don't think there's any appetite from the city council right now to vacate the street for anyone.'
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