CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater residents, part of the local group, Save the Garden, are going door to door and taking to the streets in an effort to collect 7,067 signatures from City voters. The number the City of Clearwater says is needed to trigger a possible voter referendum.
Those signatures would challenge the City Council's recent vote to vacate a portion of South Garden Avenue for the Church of Scientology.
Brooks Gibbs, campaign director for Save the Garden, said the group has collected a few hundred signatures so far and is focused on reaching the 7,000-plus threshold.
"For the love of Clearwater [we] want to see our downtown activated which means the grid, the streets need to stay open," Gibbs said.
The Council's decision passed at a recent City Council meeting. Councilman Ryan Cotton of Seat 2 was one of the three yes votes and said the decision came down to public safety.
"I want to make sure that people are able to go to their places of worship and be safe in getting to those areas," Cotton said. "Knowing the amount of people that are anticipated to utilize it, I have to look out for their well-being, especially putting on a, a policymaker hat, and, and that's really what it came down to," Cotton said.
Scientologists who spoke at the public hearing raised similar safety concerns.
"I want to feel safe coming and going," said one community member. "I don't want to fear some erratic individual will drive by and hurt anyone in our community," one Scientologist said at the hearing."
Gibbs pushed back on that reasoning.
"When people claim that safety is an issue, it's an often at the cost of our liberties and our freedoms, and that's a really cheap shot or a way to really, I think, manipulate people," Gibbs said.
If Save the Garden collects enough signatures, the City Clerk will review the petitions to determine whether they are sufficient. If deemed sufficient and the Council does not repeal the ordinance, the matter will be sent to voters.
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