A grassroots campaign has taken its fight over Clearwater’s South Garden Avenue to court, seeking to give residents a vote on a street deal involving the Church of Scientology. Save the Garden filed its lawsuit during the week of November 12 after city leaders declined to advance a petition challenging the agreement.
The legal action follows a contentious November 5 City Council meeting, when council members voted 3-2 to reject the petition. Those opposing it pointed to a state law limiting public votes on certain development decisions. The dispute over the street has continued for months, with the campaign seeking to reverse the city’s decision.
Save the Garden has gathered more than 10,000 signatures opposing the street deal. In October, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections verified 7,577 signatures, enough to meet the threshold set by Clearwater’s charter. The lawsuit contends that the city violated that charter when it refused either to repeal the ordinance or put the question before residents in a special election.
Brooks Gibbs, the campaign director for Save the Garden, said preserving public access to city streets is the purpose of the effort. He rejected the idea that opposition to Scientology or its members was driving the campaign. “It is truly for the love of Clearwater. We want to keep the streets open for the public,” Gibbs said.
The Church of Scientology welcomed the council’s rejection of the petition. In a statement issued after the vote, the church cited an opinion from the Florida attorney general that it said confirmed its position that the proposed referendum was unlawful. The church maintained that Florida law barred the vote and said the council had followed that legal guidance in upholding its approval of the Garden Avenue vacation.
Construction is already underway on L. Ron Hubbard Hall, an estimated $250 million development that includes an auditorium, a plaza and a global broadcast venue. The church said the project was moving forward. FOX 13 reported that Clearwater officials did not return a call seeking comment and that an ongoing Outlook outage prevented the outlet from contacting them by email.
Save the Garden is requesting a prompt court decision because the city charter calls for a special election within 90 to 150 days after petition certification. The city clerk certified the petition on October 13. If the group succeeds in its legal challenge, the election deadline would be March 12, 2027.
