This time I'll call the order the June four, twenty twenty six meeting.

Uh Clearwater City Council.

If you wish to address the council, and I'd please complete a comment card, comment cards are located by the clerk seated to the right of the dais.

When called to speak, please hand your card to the clerk.

We have a very large attendance tonight, as everyone in this room is aware.

We have a very large attendance tonight, as everyone in this room is aware, and we have overflue rooms as well.

Uh for one agenda item, the street vacation issue.

Uh they have assigned um numbers for folks who want to speak, and uh I'll get to more detail on how we're going to handle the back and forth and speakers when we get that agenda item.

But I appreciate everyone's patience tonight, being kind to one another, giving in and uh and and participating in tonight's meeting.

With that, uh move to item two on the uh agenda, and that is our indication.

I'd like for everyone to please stand tonight for the invitation to be given by Pastor Bob Brubaker of the Christ Community Presbyterian Church, and then remain standing afterwards for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I just pray.

Oh God of heaven and earth, we thank you for our fair city and for our dedicated leaders who are meeting here tonight.

Please provide our leaders with wisdom in their deliberations along with unity and peace in all matters.

We pray for your grace and help as we thank you for your unfailing love as we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please join me in the pledge.

I pledge.

Yes.

Individual before we go further in tonight's agenda, please uh allow me to introduce our dais.

Uh, to my far left is our deputy city clerk Nicole Sprague.

Good evening.

To her right is our city clerk Rosemary Cole.

Good evening.

To her right is our uh interim city attorney Owen Callworth.

Good evening.

Folks, um I'm gonna get to this later, but I'll share.

Uh appreciate everyone showing enthusiasm for being here tonight.

But uh tonight with the overflow crowd.

Um, you know, there are people that can't respond the way you just did uh who are not in the room.

So uh if you please you know not respond if you're happy to see somebody or happy with something that's said, you can show your happy hands or whatever.

But uh it really does, you know, when the crowd responds, however, to react to whatever is said, it does slow down the meeting and uh potentially prevents somebody else from having time to get up here and say the things.

So thank you in advance.

With that, move uh to uh to his right, and that is our council member Lena Tosheda.

Good evening, and to my left, Vice Mayor Ryan Cotton.

Hello, to my right, Councilmember Mike Manino.

Good evening.

To his right, Councilmember Dave Alburton.

Good evening.

To his right, our city manager Jennifer Poyer.

Good evening.

To her right, Assistant City Manager Dan Slaughter.

Hello, and to his right, Assistant City Manager Al Battle.

That will move to item four on the agenda.

Approve the minutes of the May 21, 2026 City Council meeting.

Sir motion to approve the minutes.

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed, unanimous.

Move to the consent agenda.

Are there any items to be pulled from tonight's agenda?

No, sir.

That is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Move to approve agenda item 5.1 through 5.12.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed, unanimous.

Move to item 6.1 on the agenda.

Approve recommended changes to penny for penells project funding authorizing a transfer of $750,000 from the existing PD equipment facility project to a new main PD parking expansion project.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Kaileen Castle, budget director.

By ordinance, we are required to hold a public hearing at any time which there is a change in Penny for Pinellas project funding greater than $500,000.

This item before you today seeks approval to eliminate the police equipment facility project, transferring $750,000 of penny for Pinellus funding to a new main PD parking expansion project.

And that project, it was originally created to create a storage facility for the police department's oversized vehicles, and we're changing the scope of that.

Um now seeking to transfer to a new project which supports the police department's need for additional secure parking spaces, and also will support the move to city hall with that incoming staff.

So I'd be happy to answer any questions you have on this item.

Anyone here from the public tonight desire to speak to agenda item 6.1 hearing seeing none.

Is there any council discussion?

There's no discussion.

Is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 6.1 second.

All those in favor?

Opposed, unanimous.

Amend the city's fiscal year 2025-26 operating and capital improvement budgets at mid year and pass ordinances 9921-26 and 9922-26 on first reading.

This item is the mid-year budget review for the fiscal year 25-26 budget.

I went through the report with you on Monday.

I'd be happy to answer any additional questions you have.

Is anyone here from the public and I desire to speak agenda item 6.2?

Hearing seeing none, is there any council discussion?

If not, is there a motion?

Motion to approve.

I need to read the oh excuse me.

The reading reading first.

Ordinance number 9921-26.

Ordinance of the City of Clearwater, Florida, amending the operating budget for the fiscal year ending September the 30th, 2026 to reflect increases in revenues and expenditures for the air park fund and special program fund as provided herein, providing an effective date.

Ordinance number 9922-26.

Ordinance of the City of Clearwater, Florida, amitting the capital improvement budget for the fiscal year ending September the 30th, 2026, to reflect a budget increase of 3,574,619, providing an effective date.

Thank you.

Um there's been a motion and second.

Any further discussion?

No, it hasn't been a motion yet.

Motion to approve agenda item 6.2.

Second.

Okay.

All those in favor?

Opposed.

Unanimous.

Thank you.

Move to agenda item 6.3.

Accept ordinance 2026-2339 and interlocal agreement gas franchise with the city of Newport Ridgeie in order for Clearwater Gas Energy to continue to provide natural gas service to the citizens of Newport Ritchie and adopt resolution 26-08.

Good evening.

I'm Brian Langill, Executive Director of CGS Energy.

This is a franchise agreement for the City of Newport Ritchie.

This will go for a 30-year term.

The current one expired at the end of last year.

We've been going month to month.

It was a 30-year and the franchise rate is set at 6%.

That's what it historically was as well.

And so that would be a 6% charge on all gas that's sold to our customers within the city limits there.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

Does anyone here from the public tonight desire to speak to this agenda item?

Seeing none, maybe we have a reading.

Resolution number 26-08.

Resolution of City of Clearwater, Florida, accepting the franchise privilege and concession of the City of Newport Ritchie, Florida, for the purpose of furnishing gas within the city of Newport Ritchie and to its inhabitants providing an effective date.

Notice there a motion.

Move to approve agenda item 6.3.

Second.

All those in favor?

Opposed, unanimous.

Agenda item 6.4.

Approve the right-of-way vacation request from the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization for the City Right of Way.

More particularly described as the southern portion of Garden Avenue, but six through 11, together with that portion abutting the vacated 15-foot alley lying between lots 10 and 11 of court square subdivision as recorded in Plat Book 5, page 53 of the public workers of Pinellas County, Florida, and pass ordinance 9907-26 on first reading.

Good evening, Council.

Kyle Vaughn, Public Works Department.

On April 17th, 2026, the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization submitted an application to vacate City Right of Way located at South Garden Avenue between Court Street and Franklin Street, which is approximately 0.65 acres.

The applicant seeks to vacate this right-of-way portion as part of an assemblage for development of an entry plaza and performance hall.

A multi-departmental internal review was completed on May 15, 2026.

The internal review identified the need for easements for existing city utility infrastructure code requirements to pay for the 22 removed public parking spaces in the right of way.

Traffic, traffic impact concerns, and excerpts from the community development code, mobility policy, downtown redevelopment plan, and comprehensive plan.

The conditions and the ordinance address these needs.

So council, this is a ordinance for the vacation of a right-of-way on guarded avenue.

And there's certain conditions that must occur in order for the vacation to occur.

And these conditions must be satisfied, and they're set forth in section two.

Number one is that the applicant shall obtain a certificate of occupancy for the primary structure of the element within five years of the execution of this ordinance.

Now the applicant has requested six years.

I don't have any legal objection to that.

In terms of the second condition, that the applicant shall provide the city with new easements for public utilities.

The third condition is that the applicant is responsible for the relocation of utilities within the right-of-way at no expense to the city.

The fourth is that the applicant will comply with the requirements of City Code 30.095- or subsection four.

That deals with the removal of the parking meters.

The fee is 114,000, 114,000 450, and there's a calculation.

In addition that the in section three of the ordinance, that the city can continue to use the full use of the right-of-way, including the collection of parking revenue until the city issues a right-of-way permit.

Now, the city's not required to issue the right-of-way permit until the city has issued building permits authorizing construction supporting the development.

Now, if council approves the ordinance with the change to six years for the applicant to obtain the CO, what that would mean is that the conditions must be satisfied if there's a second reading June the 18th of 2032.

If those conditions are not satisfied, then the right-of-way vacation never occurs.

In that instance, in 2032, if the conditions are unsatisfied, a council would really have two options, at least that council.

One is they can execute a new ordinance to extend the timeline depending on the nature of the development where they are, or then number two would be they could take the applicant to code board for violations or potentially litigation.

Now as to as to the land underneath garden, um there is no contract between the city and the applicant for the land underneath garden.

Per our charter that if the city owns the fee simple interest in the vacated right-of-way, the city would need to receive fair market value for the property.

If the city does not own the fee simple fee simple interest in the land, then the city would not receive fair market value.

And in December of 2025, the city received an attorney general's opinion regarding Garden Avenue.

The attorney general is uh the top legal advisor for the state of Florida.

His opinions are not binding, but Florida courts have said that they are highly persuasive.

And the advisory opinion stated that the church most likely owns a fee simple interest in the land under the section of garden at issue.

Um if that's the case, the city would not receive fair market value for the land under the section of garden.

Um again, the CRA statutes in 163.380 are not applicable.

There is not a contract for the sale of land underneath garden between the city and the church.

It is a right-of-way vacation, and there is no disposition or conveyance of real property.

Okay.

I don't have any open.

Okay, I guess uh this is the opportunity for the applicant to make a statement.

And they have up to ten minutes, I believe.

Five minutes, excuse me.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor, Council Persons.

My name is Robert Potter.

I represent the applicant.

Uh we have submitted a concise application.

It's 965 pages long.

It contains, we think, all of the information necessary to support this request.

Uh we I have with me tonight some of the design and technical experts, and I'm sure that some of them can answer any specific questions much better than I.

We'll call them up if needed.

We also have here tonight over a thousand community residents who support this vacation request.

If we have time for them all to speak, they're going to tell you that they have worked for many many years to make this hall occur.

They're going to tell you that it's important to how they experience and celebrate their religious beliefs.

The points, key points of our application.

The purpose is to provide a dramatic, comfortable, safe, large capacity, conve convocation center.

That's hard to say.

For religious and charitable events, those details are covered both in the cover letter and in tab two of our application.

The segment that we seek to vacate provides no real transportation benefit to the downtown roadway core.

The details supporting that statement are in tab four and consists of about 200 pages.

It's been well documented, well studied.

There's all kinds of data to support that.

It will provide limited vehicle access, and so it will comply with all the recent requirements, guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

Details to support that.

Tab five, I think there's about 400 pages.

It's well documented.

There's all kinds of studies and reports.

There is a significant public benefit to this development.

There is a large gathering space adjacent to it.

It will be pedestrian friendly.

It will provide a lot of green space to downtown Clearwater, and it will be open to the public.

This application is also consistent with past city practice.

Where a roadway segment is not required to support the roadway grid, and this vacation supports a significant development.

The request to vacate has been granted.

In fact, it has been granted in 100% of all cases.

The support for that statement is tab six in our application.

Economic impact.

The applicant is the largest taxpayer in Clearwater in Pinellas County.

Its total paid taxes and contributions to the city are almost 10 million dollars per year.

An independent analysis was conducted by FSU in 2014 and determined that the church operations contribute over 917 million dollars of economic impact every single year to this community.

The facility that they intend to build has a building budget of approximately 250 million dollars.

Obviously, that is going to add significantly to that 917 million dollar figure I just mentioned.

The construction will create jobs for local residents.

The construction materials that will be necessary to construct it will provide sale opportunities for local businesses.

Details for that are under Tab 8.

This is also an incredible design by perhaps the foremost theater design team of our time.

The team has designed over 1,000 of the world's most notable theaters.

This hall will be their most advanced and their technically most sophisticated design yet.

Time to build.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Yeah, thank you.

Here, I'm sorry, am I done?

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Um I believe Mr.

Kohler, I believe we're ready for public comment at this time.

Is there anything further needs to be presented?

No, not alone.

Well, at this time we'll uh invite anyone from the public who would like to speak to this agenda item.

I want to share, you know, there's um as Mr.

Just said there are um you know maybe a thousand people here in five different rooms.

Um we've gone to uh you know we've we've given those who want to speak a number and we'll call those in order.

So I just want to describe the process for that.

We'll only have two speakers waiting in the staging area at one time, in addition to the person currently at the podium.

So we won't line up with everybody who's going to speak.

Uh we'll call you forward three at a time, two waiting and then one speaking.

Uh the older order will alternate between those here tonight in support and those who are opposing uh this application, and then uh until we run out, and then it will be just whoever's either on one side or the other speaking.

And then until we run out, and then it will be just whoever's either on one side or the other speaking.

When the item arrives, the clerk will call speakers by number and announce three numbers at a time.

The same three numbers will be displayed by the by our staff in the overflow areas.

There will not be a long line of speakers along the wall over here tonight.

Only three people should be standing in the queue line.

Our uh our police officers, our first responders here have asked us to kind of keep the walls clear so that they can assist folks who may need help during the meeting.

So uh we only have just three people at a time, two waiting and then one speaking.

Uh communication staff will collect the yellow numbered cue card when the speaker reaches the podium and provide it to the clerk.

Uh you know, we have by council rules, we're limited in time to the um to the amount we hear from the public on any given item.

Um we'll see where we're at at the end of that time after 60 minutes.

But it does help us get through them all.

If, as I said earlier, if you can show your I call them happy hands, but I think the the real world is jazz hands.

But um in a any plause, it it just it it takes time away from other people to get up here and say what we'll say.

So if you could hold your applause, any any emotion uh verbally that will help us get through.

Um we've got uh before we begin or going further.

Um, you know, we do have the overflow seats, and I want the media to know we've got more people than just in the room.

We've got them in several rooms here, and they're watching on camera, and they're helping those who may be out there you know, navigate when it's your time to speak to come on in, so we're not bringing everybody in and overcrowding the room at once.

Okay.

Each speaker gets three minutes to speak unless you've gotten a card and you've worked it out with our staff to uh get additional time uh to speak uh with somebody else's time that's here tonight.

Uh but uh know that your time will begin when you get to the podium.

So if it takes you 30 seconds to gather your thoughts, your time began running when you get to the podium, and then you'll see a yellow light that tells you that you're close to being done, and then the the red light obviously means stop when your time is up.

So uh I just appreciate everybody uh helping one another tonight and helping us get through.

We obviously have a lot that want to speak tonight, and uh so we'll begin with that uh with uh our city clerk.

If you could call the first speaker.

Yes, if we can have uh speaker S1, please.

S one four.

Uh did you accumulate any additional minutes, sir?

No.

My name is Stu Schauerman.

I have lived in the Clearwater area for more than 30 years.

I'm the founder and executive chairman of No Before, a global cybersecurity company headquartered in downtown Clearwater.

Clearwater is where I chose to build my company.

Uh, employ over a thousand people and invest in the future of this community through No Before and other local initiatives.

I have spent decades contributing to the economic vitality of Clearwater and the Tampa Bay region.

My involvement in Clearwater extends beyond business.

I served as a founding board member of the Clearwater Downtown Partnership.

Um I've spent more than six years of the downtown development board, and my wife and I have supported projects ranging from the Gladys Douglas Preserve to the Humane Society's Showerman Adoption Center.

I'm also a Scientologist, and my wife and I have personally contributed millions of dollars toward the Alvaron Hubbard Hall since the inception of this project because we believe in what it will mean for future generations of parishioners and for downtown Clearwater.

To me, this project represents more than a building.

It's the completion of a vision that has been discussed for decades, and the final piece to complete FLACS downtown campus.

And I ask you to support the Garden Avenue Vacation and help bring this long planned project to completion.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker.

Oh one.

Good evening, Council and City Staff.

I'm Pat T.

Meyer.

And I decided tonight that I would not go in an emotional direction.

I wouldn't go in a personal direction.

But I just wanted to maybe state publicly for the record that when we received a department approval checklist, there were numerous occasions where there were some question about whether closing South Garden Avenue is appropriate at all.

And I don't have the quote, but I know the city attorney mentioned our attorney general Uthmeyer who did say something about the land underneath the street belonging possibly to Scientology.

But he also said that when the street is used for public purposes such as parking or the fire department or sewers or buses.

Those kinds of things need to be considered also.

So that when I looked at the department approval checklist, I found several things that seem to apply to that.

Buses need to go up South Garden Avenue even to get to the new bus station that's being built on Myrtle.

If they don't, then it would actually cause a opposing traffic situation on Fort Harrison.

The staff prefers the applicant's previous site plan, which retained Garden Avenue.

I think that was 2017 or 18, something like that, where it was left as a street that was useful to get back and forth to the other parts of the city when you're sort of avoiding Fort Harrison.

That one was sort of interesting.

You've already talked a little bit about how there's going to have to be easements for stormwater for public utilities.

I understand that can happen when an organization or a company wants to take over a certain part that has that, they have to go ahead and pay for it.

But they also said that the application indicates a 2013 parking study.

That's a long time ago.

I came in 2014, and I've already seen my 12 years of change in downtown.

So maybe that has to be resubmitted at that point.

And evidently the study did not actually address that particular issue.

You know about this.

Okay.

So there needs to be an additional study for that.

All right.

And that was, you know, from the public utilities division manager, if I'm reading it correctly.

And it also sets out this idea that superblocks shouldn't be created.

Thank you.

Thanks a lot.

There was more, but you know about it.

Next speaker.

S2.

Hello, Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

My name is Greg Norman, and I'm a Scientologist.

My wife and I moved to Clearwater 15 years ago, and it remains one of the best decisions we've ever made.

We love boating, walking on the beaches, supporting the local businesses, and being part of this community.

I'm a general contractor and a local business owner.

My company has grown into one of the largest residential remodeling companies in Clearwater.

We service hundreds of local residents every year with their kitchen and bathroom modeling projects.

We employ over 50 full-time staff, many of whom live, vote, and raise their families right here in Clearwater.

We pull hundreds of permits a year and undergo thousands of inspections on our job sites and try to set a good example for others to follow.

We recently opened a 2500 square foot community event space to help smaller nonprofits hold fundraising events without the burden of facility cost.

I'm here tonight because I have personally donated towards the El Run Hubbard Hall, and this vacation request is important to me.

One of the reasons I support the Garden Avenue vacation is safety.

Frankly, there have been enough mass shootings and vehicular homicides in recent years to make this a real concern.

Many years ago, I was personally the victim of a violent assault just for being a Scientologist.

My wife and I were leaving church one evening when a man I had never met before asked if I was a Scientologist.

When I said yes, he suddenly and violently attacked me without provocation.

I was left with bruises and scratches.

The police documented the injuries and carted him away to jail.

It's important to note.

This insane person had no personal direct knowledge or experience with Scientology or any member of our church.

He had simply heard or read some wild rumors about us and then attacked me, the first Scientologist he ever met.

And here in Clearwater, there's already a record of similar assaults and even a drive-by shooting targeting our members and/or our properties.

When I think about El Ron Hubbard Hall and the people who will use it, I think about creating an environment where families, parishioners, and visitors can gather safely and comfortably.

For those reasons, I support the Garden Avenue Vacation, and I respectfully ask for your approval.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

O2.

Mr.

Mayor.

Council members, my name is Don T.

Meyer.

Two religions have been referenced in council meetings, Christianity and Scientology.

Christianity, according to scripture, man's problem began in the garden thousands of years ago.

Excessive arrogance and deception blinded man from the truth that has led us down this rugged road.

Salvation is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I first truly heard that gospel in 1974.

That was a potsmock pot smoking art school dropout, a hopeless mess.

I read these words of scripture, Christ died for the ungodly.

I thought, could that possibly be true?

And I found it is.

Scientologists are not the enemy.

They are captives of the enemy, in my opinion.

My desire is that every scientist every thank you, sir.

You're three three minutes are up.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next speaker.

S3.

Oh, I have four minutes.

I only had you just completed a regular.

There's another card.

Jan Bottles got in one minute.

That's about speaker card.

This is an individual speaker card.

So unless Jan Fox gives up her three minutes.

So I think she filled out a car.

She won't be able to speak if she filled out a card.

I thought we could give you the card.

Yeah.

We have a lot of speakers, so I think we we understand your point.

Well, if whoever else we gave you was going to give you time, they're welcome to come speak.

I think we we have time.

But uh no, no, sir.

We're we have we have we have many people who want to speak, so thank you.

Next speaker.

S three.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Constantine Hogg.

I've lived in Clearwater for over 30 years, many of those right here.

In fact, I remember growing up on island estates, going to the beach as a young boy.

It's a great time.

I met my wife 22 years ago here.

We raised her three boys in Clearwater.

My three sons are third generation Scientologists.

We've been part of this community for decades, and we want to see the city do well.

I'm also the CEO of Hammerhog Steel, a steel fabrication business, which I started over 15 years ago in Clearwater at the old checkers factory.

We have over 175 employees.

That's 175 families that we support.

We've been working hard in the city for 50 years.

My company's done work in over 50 buildings right here in downtown Clearwater.

I love the city.

I've put in a lot of time here.

I've built my business here.

I have my family here, and I pay property taxes here.

My church, my fellow parishioners, and I have done a lot to help the city.

Having lived here for more than 30 years, I know that South Garden Avenue wasn't there.

We wouldn't notice much of a difference.

For this reason, I'm asking that you vote to vacate the street so we can build a beautiful L.

Ron Hubbard Hall to honor our founder and have a central place for our church events.

This hall is also extremely important to me because it will complete our campus.

From a safety standpoint, as a parent of three children, I believe it's important that our children can leave the Elron Hubbard Hall safely without having to cross the street.

I'm sure the city council can relate to this as well.

Also, this hall will be used for numerous events that will benefit the Clearwater community.

I respectfully ask for your support in helping make this happen.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

O three.

Oh three.

But you already spoke, so you can't speak again.

Yeah, it can we have could we have the next option?

She gave me her minutes.

I know, but I was only given I was given an individual common card.

But you spoke.

You use your three minutes.

We need the next speaker.

Good.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Something matters.

Hello, council and staff.

Um, I'm sure that you have read the Attorney General, James Athmeyer's website pertaining to this issue millions of times, like I have.

And I believe I've sent you this information many times, but I'm going to repeat it here.

Are you able to hear me?

Yes.

Okay, according to that website and particulars.

City is used as a case study.

I believe it was frost proof, Florida.

It says if the general public is using the roads and streets in question, including public service vehicles such as garbage trucks, police, fire, or emergency vehicles, then the county should not close or vacate their roads or streets in question.

As such vacation would be injurious to the public welfare, or violate individual property rights.

It is clear that the city council, and they're talking about frost proof, he is talking about frost proof in this case, should not undertake to vacate any streets in the absence of a determination that the general public would benefit from the vacation.

Or that such streets are no longer required for the public use and convenience.

We saw it.

The public saw it today.

Maybe you saw it two, three, four days ago.

And I believe it contains information that one of our city council people told us about back on March 17th in 2025.

But it's just not just.

It's a synopsis and extension of the information that we were given back then.

So I'm going to pull out a few specific snippets that were in that report.

I don't know how long it's going to take, but soon as my three minutes are up, I'll just stop.

Okay, for Tara Kivitt, the city engineer.

She said there are concerns regarding PSDA's identification of this segment of Garden Avenue as part of a future bus route.

The city and FDOT have required that no bus turning movements be permitted onto or off Myrtle Avenue at Franklin Street.

As a result, buses will need to utilize this segment of Garden Avenue to access Court Street.

An alternative option would require buses to cross opposing traffic in order to travel Westbound and Court Street.

Per Annabella Howen, Transportation Engineer Division Manager.

Oops.

Thank you, ma'am.

Okay.

Appreciate you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hi.

My name is Kevin Abney, and I've been a resident of Pinellas County for since like 2009.

For nearly 40 years, I have been a husband to my lovely wife Julie.

I am a father to our four children.

A grandfather to our six fantastic grandchildren, businessman, a veterinarian, a surgeon, and a Scientologist.

After graduating high school at 17, I attended the University of Tennessee and completed both college and med school in just six years.

Over the course of my career, I have owned six veterinary hospitals, performed tens of thousands of surgeries, and employed well over a hundred people.

Here in Pinellas County, I owned and operated one of the largest general veterinary practices in the region, employing 45 staff with eight doctors beyond veterinary medicine.

I own and operate other businesses in Pinellas County and have worked closely with local professionals and businesses in Clearwater.

I'm also a customer and supporter of many Clearwater businesses and have proudly contributed to the local community for many years.

I share these things because I strongly believe in contributing to the community in which I live.

This is one of the reasons the L Run Hover Hall is so important to me.

For the last decade, I have personally contributed toward making this a reality.

As a Scientologist, it is important to me because it completes the campus of our spiritual awareness.

It is also important to me because it will be available to the broader community whenever needed.

Also believe the completion of the LRH Hall will greatly benefit Clearwater by bringing visitors from around the world who will experience everything our wonderful city has to offer.

Right now, this portion of Garden Avenue is barely used and nearly vacant.

When it is used, it is mainly used by Scientologists who are coming to flag.

Thank you for your time, and I ask that you vote yes on this proposal.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, next speaker.

Hi everyone.

This is concerning the vacation of a public right-of-way in downtown South Garden Avenue specifically.

I'm nervous about being here.

Honestly, I've been fearful of showing up in person and given my full name.

But I've been informed I have been informed and mocked by a certain person who claimed to be a photographer for Scientology on social media that I have already been quote unquote verified, whatever that means.

So why not come and get on record with my brave fellow citizens?

Especially after being preached a literal sermon from the dais and getting an animated finger wagging, declaring citizens have been misled by Mr.

Cotton and All Britain respectively at the May 21st meeting.

This really disturbed me as I was watching it.

And as representatives of all Clearwater citizens, I think we should be disturbed.

My concerns are many, but I want to focus on the opinion of our state attorney general.

And this is in reference to number 77-88.

Please correct me if this is no longer applicable, or I have been misled.

This is concerning prohibition on private benefit.

Public entities or developers cannot legally vacate a road purely to benefit a private investor or developer.

This decision must serve the general welfare of the public.

So my question is how is vacating this public right away to allow the creation of a private valley drop-off in service of our citizens' general welfare in downtown Clearwater.

And excuse me, I'm shaking.

According to our city employees' input that I just read this afternoon, there are many issues concerning the vacation of this public street, including 22 much needed parking spaces downtown that we have utilized.

My family has utilized several times.

And so that that was confusing to me.

Utility issues and traffic concerns that have not been fully vetted.

One study dating back to 2013, not at all current, and no study addressing this South Garden Avenue's busiest time frame, which is mid-afternoon.

The report I read today from city staff, which was their it was it was basically what their opinions were and concerns, raised a lot more questions.

I'm asking what I believe to be in the common sense, general welfare of the citizens of Clearwater and total that South Garden Avenue not be taken from us.

I believe it is in our general welfare to remain, regardless of what transpires.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

S5.

Good evening, City Council members.

My name is Emmett Osborne, and my family and I have probably called Clearwater home for the past 28 years.

And before moving to Clearwater, I worked to rehabilitate drug addicts and criminals to help them turn their lives around.

After years of doing this, it was a natural progression of that activity that I became a minister for the Church of Scientology.

Now, for decades now, I've been delivering many weddings, helped prepare hundreds of marriages and put families back together of many different faiths here in Clearwater.

Over the last nine years, I've been focused on interfaith groups as well because these problems are affecting us all.

The audiences I speak to these days contain ministers, rabbis, and a host of philanthropists and local business leaders because they're interested in tools to improve everything about their life, their relationships, their staff and their community.

For the last decade, really about 15 years, I've personally contributed to the completion of Ron Hubbard Hall.

This is important to me.

It is the final component to complete the campus for our spiritual headquarters.

And the vacation of Garden Avenue paves the way for a facility large enough to safely bring together many people of many faiths and many backgrounds who share a common purpose, which is helping others and strengthening our community.

I believe this proposal serves Clearwater well, and I asked for your favorable consideration on it.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker, please.

06.

Okay, then 07 counsel.

Good evening.

Um I oppose the vacation of Garden Street.

Um I'm a city, I've been at Clearwater resident.

My family were all Scientologists.

They've lived here for many years.

None of them are alive anymore.

I oppose it because they're trying to build a hole that's just for them.

We have nothing.

We go to the sound, we see a uh a band, and then we have to go home or go to Safety Harbor or Log or somewhere else.

There's nowhere for us to enjoy our time here.

In um in Clearwater, it's been taken over by Scientology, and they're trying to push us out further and further.

That's all they're trying to do.

It's just get rid of us.

Um, and I don't agree with that.

I would like to live here.

It's a beautiful town.

I would like to enjoy myself here.

We need some restaurants, and there used to be a lot of culture.

We need to bring back some of that history.

Um, little gift shops, wine bars, places to go, a seven, the largest seven screens in Florida.

Who needs that?

We don't need that.

Clearwater doesn't.

If we could use one nice movie theater, that would be great.

But not seven largest screens.

So basically, as far as I can see, they're just telling you what you want to hear.

They're throwing stuff out there that sounds really good.

It's not going to be accomplished, it's not going to be done.

They don't do any kind of community outreach.

They don't want us here.

Also, I'm a protester, so they don't really care about me that much and my friends.

We're the ones that actually come down once a week to downtown and hang out.

There's nothing here.

Afterwards, we all get together, we have to go eat somewhere else.

There's nothing in Clearwater for us.

Clearwater resident would love Clearwater to be its own town without the non-transparent and sneaky, underhanded ways of taking up all our buildings and pushing the citizens, people who just want to live here, pushing us out further and further.

Um we need fun things to do.

Clearwater beaches for the tourists.

We know that.

Who's going to pay 30, 40 bucks for parking?

We don't.

Um, we would like to have a town somewhere where we could go and spend time with our family and friends without the creepiness.

The only people parking down there are Scientologists.

Yeah, because they pushed us out.

The hole they're gonna build is just gonna be for them.

We're not gonna have events there.

There's not gonna be ceremonies, weddings and stuff.

It's just gonna be for them.

Once again, they just want to build more to push us out.

So I really, really seriously, seriously oppose the sale of this street.

Please don't give it away to them.

Think of us.

And if we're scaring developers, we're not the ones scaring the developers out.

They are.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker.

Essex.

Thank you, council members.

My name is Paul Chelevsky.

I'm a Clearwater business owner, taxpayer, and I'm a Scientologist.

I've been a Scientologist for more than 50 years.

And I moved to Clearwater 20 years ago to be closer to Flag, the spiritual headquarters of my church.

My mother, who passed away not too long ago, was a lifelong Catholic.

In memory of her passing, I visited the Vatican last month and toured St.

Peter's Basilica.

I was awestruck by the beauty of the buildings and by what they represented to Catholics around the world.

They were more than just structures.

They reflected faith, tradition, and spirituality.

That experience made me think about LRH Hall.

For me, LRH Hall will represent something very similar for Scientologists.

It will be a place that reflects the importance of our religion, brings people together, and serves future generations.

The Elrond Hubbard Hall has been a passion of mine for many years.

I personally donated a substantial amount to help make this vision a reality.

Because I believe it will benefit both my religion and the broader Clearwater community.

There will be hundreds of events there every year.

Many will be church events, but many others will be charitable, humanitarian, educational, and non-profit events that welcome people from all backgrounds and faiths.

As a business owner and longtime Clearwater resident, I want to see our city continue to grow and provide opportunities for people to come together.

I believe LRH Hall will contribute positively to that future.

For those reasons, I respectfully ask you to approve the Garden Avenue Vacation.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, please.

L8.

Hello, everybody.

So each person who came up here that was for this said very clearly they were here for 50 years.

So each person who came up here that was for this said very clearly they were here for 50 years, 30 years, all this stuff trying to impress upon you what a wonderful person they are, and that the church is, and therefore they feel thus and such.

So there needs to be another side to that.

Okay.

It's not just an El Ron Hubbard Hall, okay, that everyone can go, oh, it's so great for my church.

Just let me do.

Many of us, myself included, like I know you guys have dealt with Scientology for 50 years.

I've dealt with them for 57 years.

Okay?

I was born into this mess.

And let me tell you something.

It destroyed everyone I know, their families, my family, everybody.

So for a lot of people, it's not a pleasant thing to think of.

Oh, let's drive by the new uh LRH Hall.

Okay.

If you do not have to do a deep dive, you can just put your foot, I mean, literally a toe in the water, and you can see 97% of anything you can find is not necessarily pleasant regarding Scientology.

And these are from people all over the world.

So to ignore that, I think is incredible to not say, you know what, there are people who feel the exact opposite, and in fact, a lot more.

But they're scared to come here.

I'm not.

None of the scowl tech means anything to me.

Doesn't even bother me in the slightest.

Okay.

You can see by the shirt I'm wearing.

So what I want you guys to do when you when you talk about these things amongst yourself is realize this is actually a nightmare.

Okay, for people like my sister who uh had to go through things in her you can't even speak of.

Okay.

And I had to deal with that as a child, as a 12-year-old.

I was taking care of the mental health of people your age because of this place.

They don't believe in children.

They don't.

They say you're just in a small body, but you're 75 trillion years old.

This is what we're dealing with.

You need to know this when you make decisions.

This stuff hurts people every day.

Okay?

And you need to hear that.

All right?

So please keep that in mind when you guys are talking about this stuff.

It's not about it's either good or nothing.

No, this is a real bad scene for a lot of us.

Okay?

So please keep that in mind.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, council members, mayor.

My name is Ellen Firestone.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

Although I originally came from Pennsylvania, I have been coming to Clearwater for nearly 20 years because of my church, friends, and love for the area.

Four years ago, I relocated to Clearwater and made it my home.

Today I live, work, vote, and volunteer right here in Clearwater.

I remember the first year I moved here, I would walk on the beach and think, I can't believe I'm here.

I was so happy to be here, and I still do that sometimes.

Can't believe I'm here.

I've also been active in teaching human rights since 2007 and have received the President's Volunteer Service Award for this work and have served on the National Council of the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

In all of my work with human rights education, what's been very clear to me is that all 30 of the human rights belong to everyone.

I chose to speak tonight because El Ron Hubbard Hall is important to me and to tens of thousands of Scientologists who come to Clearwater from around the world, as well as community members who use our facilities for social betterment, nonprofit events and activities.

What excites me most is that these organizations will be able to use the hall at no charge, allowing them to focus their resources on helping others and creating positive change in our communities.

Many of us have supported this project, donated to it, and have been waiting years to see it become a reality.

When I first learned about the plans for LRH Hall, I was excited because I could see the vision for a place where people could gather, learn, celebrate, and work together.

I am here as a citizen of Clearwater, a voter, and a Scientologist, asking you to hear the voices of the people who will actually use this hall and who have been looking forward to it for many years.

One of my defining purposes in life is to help improve conditions for others, both locally and globally.

I believe LRH Hall will play a significant role in advancing that purpose by supporting programs and activities that create positive change in Clearwater, across our nation, and around the world.

I ask you to approve the vacation of Garden Avenue and help this project move forward to completion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi there, Brooks Gibbs.

It's an honor to be here on behalf of Save the Garden, and I'm really thrilled that a bunch of parishioners are getting to hear directly from me.

I've asked a lot of our team not to come just to honor the time, make this go as quick as possible, but I will speak on our behalf.

Save the Garden is not interested in speaking out against the religion of the Church of Scientology.

We are only interested in objecting to the monopolized real estate portfolio of the institution in downtown Clearwater.

That's why we started, that's why we exist.

We want to be able, well, like April 3rd, when uh when it was said by Ryan Cotton right here that uh David Miscavige told you directly that uh they own and control the organization and the parishioners over 200 properties.

And that was uh, you know, news to you, but it has been not news to a lot of people in Clearwater.

On May 12th, right here, he said the same thing to Sarah Heller that she said, yes, we own and control as parishioners in an institution over 200 properties downtown.

This is the problem.

Our founding fathers were really against the monopolizing of property by a special interest group.

In fact, a governments that enable the monopolization of property were something that our founding fathers spoke out against.

It's not only immoral, but it's it's unamerican.

John Adams said in his uh uh Massachusetts Historical Society speech in 1787, he says property monopolized or in the possession of a few is a curse to mankind.

We should preserve not an absolute equality, this is unnecessary, but preserve extreme poverty, those without property, and avoid all others from extra extra vegetant riches, excuse me.

That's monopolizing property.

James Madison, who was a contemporary, wrote about the conflict that arises when in a community when there's an imbalance of property ownership.

In Federalist Papers Number 10, he says the most common and durable source of factions in a community has been the various and unequal distribution of property, those who hold and those who are without.

They never have the same interest in that society.

Jefferson wrote to Madison, he says, I'm conscious that an equal division of property is impractical.

That would be communism.

But the consequences of this enormous inequality of property is such a misery to the bulk of mankind, and this is the most important thing he said.

Legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdividing property.

Some people say, well, it's not immoral.

It is.

Because all of our children deserve to live in a community where no one is judged by the color of their skin, the religion they practice, or the traditions they celebrate.

They deserve to live in a community where all races, religions, and creeds are welcome.

In summary, I believe this proposal will help create a safer environment for families while providing a place where people can come together and build a stronger community.

Thank you for your time, and I ask for your support of the Garden Avenue vacation.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker.

O ten.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

My name is Barbara Sorry Love, president of the Clearwater African American Foundation.

The onset of Save the Garden was to memorialize and preserve the history of Clearwater's three African American communities.

As awareness has grown, members of all races in Clearwater wanted to share in the mission and to tell all of Clearwater's history, including Garden Avenue.

We stand together, realizing all of our memories matter.

This is not just a chapter in a dusty textbook.

It is a living struggle that runs straight through the history of Clearwater and into the voting booths and rights of all Clearwater citizens today.

Church of Scientology wants to take over Clearwater, use the African American community, North Greenwood, as its savings grace.

Let us first turn back the pages of to the Jim Crow era.

Living in Clearwater in the mid-20th century, for an African American, the simple act of casting a ballot or signing a petition was not a civic right.

It was an obstacle course designed to ensure we failed.

Back then, the language of repression was explicit and cruel.

It was written in laws demanding that we pass impossible literacy tests and understanding clauses.

It was a poll tax or invention of all white primaries, which completely shut the African Americans out of the meaningful political process.

And if those systemic barriers didn't work, the weapon of intimidation and the looming threat of violence were used to terrorize those who dared to step up to the plate.

The voting rights act of 1965 tore down those blatant walls.

Has a suppression stopped?

No.

It has simply changed its vocabulary.

We stand together.

Suppression takes the form of strict voter identification requirements that disappropriately burden marginalized communities who may lack the resources of time to burden to obtain specific documents.

During the Jim Crow era, they ask us to read a constitution.

We were never taught.

Today, endless bureaucratic hurdles are created.

Package under the harmless sounding language of election integrity.

To accomplish the exact same goal to keep us from signing a petition or casting our valet.

The tools have changed, but the intent remains.

When we study the barriers faced by our parents and the Gem Pro in Clearwater and compare them to the Martin Hurdles, black, white, and brown navigate and stand together, remain vigilant.

We stand together, remaining vigilant.

We continue to educate, mobilize, and push back against every tactic designed to silence any of Clearwater's communities.

African American, white, or Hispanic.

The petitions were all signed by people who love this place we call home.

We fight with all our might to save what's left of downtown.

Councilman Cotton.

The pastors don't speak for entire Clearwater community.

Whatever our race, our ethnic background, our vote is our voice, and our voice is our power.

Thank you, ma'am.

We stand together.

Next speaker, please.

S9.

Council members, good evening.

I'm here to speak to you about why I support the vacation of Garden Avenue.

My name is Ali Osborne.

My husband and I have lived in Clearwater for 28 years.

My mother and father also live in Clearwater, enjoying their golden years in this beautiful city.

At a young age, I attended public school and I struggled greatly with my grades.

I was in the school band and I was quite a nerd.

But despite loving to study and learn, my grades were horrible.

My mother had me take a Scientology course called the Children's Study Course.

Upon learning how to properly study and look up words in a dictionary, I became a straight A student.

I got the principal's honor roll stamp on every report card thereafter.

That was the first moment that I decided I was a Scientologist.

I was eight years old.

Clearwater is very important to me on a personal level.

I am a stage 3B breast cancer survivor.

I underwent my treatments at Bay Care and Florida Cancer Specialists off of Fort Harrison Avenue.

The chemotherapy, the surgery, the radiation, and the immunotherapy treatments were intense.

They lasted for 18 months.

In that time, my family and I did not know if I would live or die.

Obviously, I made it through as I stand here before you today, cancer free for seven years now.

The two pillars of strength during my cancer battle were number one, the amazing medical team I had assembled.

And two, the spiritual counseling I received at FLAG.

This journey has given me a unique perspective regarding cancer and has led me to a life in service of others, counseling people diagnosed with cancer in their darker times of need.

I am very passionate about my role in this community as I assist Scientologists and non-scientologists alike.

Many of the people I've assisted have called me their guardian angel, and that I was sent by God to help them.

The LRH Hall will be a place where groups can congregate and learn more about the founder of the Scientology religion, where community volunteer groups can hold conventions and award ceremonies.

As a member of this community and as a Scientologist, I know this project will make a positive contribution to our community, and I respectfully ask for your approval.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker.

Good evening.

I'm Kathy Warren.

When I spoke at the council meeting last time, last your last meeting, I said that I believe that you must hate the citizens of Clearwater because you refuse to listen to them and do what they ask of you.

The citizens of Clearwater do not want Scientology to take any more buildings or streets of their city.

And I do mean take because money means nothing to them.

After listening to almost 50 citizens at the last meeting plead with you to hear their voices not to vacate Garden Avenue, and following the lawsuit filed by the ACL ACLU concerning your refusal to put the initiative on the ballot, you must believe you are not bound to make the right decision concerning the vacation.

You act as if none of these actions have any bearing on your sit your decision concerning the future of Garden Avenue or the future of other public streets in downtown Clearwater.

You clearly do not care that the citizens of Clearwater are telling you what they want you to do, what you promised to do when you took this office.

I must say, Lena, we were all shocked and dismayed when you joined these council members in refusing to put the initiative on the ballot.

Clearwater citizens are frustrated.

Be sure, be certain that we will not forget these choices when and if you decide to run for office, this office or another office in the city, the county, or the state.

You will give Scientology these streets and properties because you do not respect or care about the people who gave you this ability.

You will set a precedent by giving them Garden Avenue.

As they have stated openly, they will close the street entirely to the public.

Once that is completed, they will want more streets.

Eventually, Scientology would like to create a compound out of this gorgeous city.

You will be remembered as the council members who gave the city of Clearwater to Scientology.

I assume you have all studied the Clearwater Public Works Engineering Department approval checklist titled Vacation of South Garden Avenue.

Ten Clearwater City employees published their recommendations and reasons why the street should not be vacated.

These 10 people include the deputy city engineer, the transport engineer, division manager, a city surveyor, a mapper, the public utilities division manager, the public's work public works director, etc.

There are a number of these.

Each professional gives detailed assessments of why South Garden Avenue should not be vacated.

You are dismissing the signatures of over 8,000 voters, dismissing the voices of over 50 people who attended and speak and have spoken at your meetings, and now you are dismissing the professionals who explain the value of South Garden Avenue to the city of Clearwater.

How can you dismiss all these people and move forward with this vacation?

This council has clearly gone rogue.

Our plan and our purpose to save Garden Avenue as well as the other streets and the alley that Scientology now wants to buy.

Thank you, ma'am.

Appreciate you.

Next speaker, please.

S10.

My name is Heather Tapia, and I'm a Scientologist.

My family and I have lived in Clearwater for 25 years.

This is where we raise our three sons, built our business, formed lifelong friendships, and created our future.

Our oldest son is now married with two beautiful daughters and operates three successful businesses in Clearwater.

Our middle son is thriving as a college athlete.

Our youngest son is in his senior year of high school and active in sports in our community.

Clearwater is not just where we live, it is our home.

For many years, we have owned a business in downtown Clearwater.

One way we have given back is by supporting local sports programs, schools, and charitable fundraisers because helping our community succeed matters to us.

Sports have been a major part of our life.

All three of our sons played for the Clearwater Chargers Soccer Club for many years.

Last year, our middle son received the Lifetime Clearwater Chargers Award after playing with the club from age three through age 18.

In fact, Mr.

Menino was my son's soccer coach for many years and personally taught him how to be a good player and have good values on and off the field.

As an artist, I have used my work to support fundraisers and goodwill projects throughout the area.

We have supported local schools of all backgrounds, including public, Christian, and Catholic schools.

For the past 22 years, FLAG has been an important part of our family's life.

It is our spiritual home.

The teachings of L.

Ron Hubbard have helped us build a strong family and raise children who are hardworking, dedicated, and successful.

That is why LRH Hall is so important to me personally.

It represents the fulfillment of a vision that many Scientologists, including my family, have supported for years.

Over the years, through my volunteer work and community involvement, I have personally seen many nonprofits and community groups use facilities at no cost to hold events and advance causes that benefit our community.

LRH Hall will strengthen our ability to continue supporting those efforts and serve even more people in the future.

I believe LRH Hall will be a positive addition to downtown Clearwater and will contribute to the future of our city.

For that reason, I respectfully support the Garden Avenue vacation request and ask for your approval.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker.

O twelve good evening.

Good to see you all again.

So I know the folks on the other side like to say hardly anybody uses it, but I think you'll find quite a few local people do, and we're just amazed to hear that it might be closed.

Second, not that long ago, this council turned down a request from the people who lived along Drew Street to change it so that it would go one direction in each way for safety, because the study showed that it would take people two minutes longer to get downtown.

So the businesses came here and said, Oh my god, two more minutes.

That would be terrible.

So you decided to do something different, which is going to cost us all more money.

At a time, I came here on Thursday night and heard all the great plans that are being presented to open up the city to thousands and thousands of thousands of more visitors, and you're thinking about closing down a street that's a little access road.

I think it would be used a lot more once those thousands and thousands of people started showing up for all those great businesses that are going to be here.

So I also understand that this project for the hall can go forward and be pretty much the same without this street.

So please consider that.

And the last point is the vision that the church has for this great place for all of them is not my vision.

And I'm a citizen here, and I want my voice to be heard.

Thank you for this evening.

I appreciate it.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker.

S11.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Neil Winteregg, and I'm a Scientologist.

I currently run my business out of downtown Clearwater, and I am here seven days a week, working, eating, and meeting with friends and clients.

My father moved our family and his entire company from Northern Virginia to Clearwater in 2002 to be closer to our church.

Since that time, we have considered Clearwater home.

I spent many years as a business consultant traveling throughout North America, delivering seminars and workshops, and I was always happy to come back home to Clearwater because there was no other city or state I visited that I would have rather called home.

Recently at the Fort Harrison Hotel, I had the privilege of hosting a number of sheriff's deputies, military personnel, and youth educators who are allies of the church's drug free world foundation.

These veterans, deputies, and educators all share the vision of educating children about the truth about drugs so they can live drug-free lives and make better decisions for themselves and their friends.

Helping young people avoid drugs has become very important to me.

And Alan Hubbard Hall would help us expand that work.

There would be more deputies, more veterans, and more educators to keep even more children in our community educated so they can live better lives and remain drug free, saving countless lives in the process.

I can tell you that as a Scientologist, I'm very dedicated to safeguarding and improving our environment.

The hall and downtown expansion represent our commitment to turning Clearwater into a thriving, safe environment to be enjoyed by all who live here and come to visit our wonderful city.

Scientologists want to work with you, the council, and all citizens of Clearwater to make this vision a reality.

I therefore respectfully ask for you to approve the Garden Avenue vacation to create a safe and amazing park and event hall to be used for everyone.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration this evening.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker.

O 13.

Hello, thank you for uh allowing us to speak tonight.

Um and I also just want to thank the city staff, um, the Clearwater police officers um and and the gentleman out there.

I think he's a security guard that tried to calm me down because I get very nervous.

I'm not a public speaker.

This is quite the um uh I guess it takes a lot to organize this, so thank you all.

Um has been most discouraging for me to witness over the past few months as I've been following along with this, is how a few on the committee on the council have treated many of the citizens of Clearwater.

During the meeting on May 21st, Mr.

Albreton, you looked out at the crowd in this room at citizens, many of whom had just found the courage to stand up, and it does take courage, speak out, and exercise their civic duty and First Amendment rights.

And you said something along the lines of I understand everybody sitting out here in the audience hates the Church of Scientology.

That's not fair.

Brian Cotton, since very early on, you have been attacking and making accusations against the Save the Garden Committee, such as very early on, when you insinuated that they were using their black friends to move their agenda forward, those friends who are here with them now.

During the meeting on the 21st of this month, you said something along these lines.

When I see fellow believers specifically in this committee publicly defining themselves through opposition to their neighbors, it begins to resemble a modern day crusade against a religious organization more than an effort to reflect Christ in our community.

What you did when you said that was condemn not only the committee, but also the thousands of residents who signed the petition and those who collected signatures.

These individuals were exercising their rights to stand up for what they believe in, and many of them, by the way, are not even Christians.

By making these comments and more that you made, you unfairly and indirectly cast all of us as motivated by hostility rather than by a sincere desire to preserve a place and a history we care deeply about.

You judge the motives of thousands of your fellow residents while invoking the name of the Lord and his sacrifice on the cross.

I found that appalling.

And water.

I get it.

But one thing you cannot deny is, and some of you have already acknowledged, is that thousands of residents sign that petition.

Thank you, ma'am.

Yeah.

Please save the garden and save our street.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Council members, the council rule says six comments limited to 60 minutes.

I need the uh council approval for this, but I'd like to extend the time and then just because I'm an over man and I need to take a break here about 745, but recess about 745 and see where we're at.

Go ahead and extend late until uh 745, which we'll recess and take a short break and let us all refresh.

Any objection to that?

How long are you going to extend?

Just till 745.

We'll recess and come back, see who's left to speak.

Thank you.

Um before making that decision, there's a way we can find out how long a list is.

I mean, if we have another hundred speakers, I'm not in support of it.

If there's a couple, um, then a hundred percent I want to hear those voices, but I'm waiting for staff feedback.

Okay.

Um we can figure that out on during the break if you want.

I'm just interested to know where we're at.

I do have um the team has been keeping me up to date in terms of the number of speakers.

And um I have 59 in total in terms of support and 18 in terms of um opposition, and that's in total.

I think you were what number were you at?

I am at uh number 12 for support and 14 for opposition.

So we're not even halfway.

Yeah, not even halfway.

That's uh again, our rules are that we we end at 60 minutes, so that's um unless the council approves extension.

So uh I'm willing to extend for at least some time, but it's it's at the council's pleasure to to extend or not.

So, as far as what I'm hearing in the numbers, there's a lot more supporters than opposition.

So I think that we've got pretty good idea of where people stand on the issue on both sides.

Um I would be okay with just finishing it out to 7.15 and then seeing how many we can get between now and I mean at 745.

Yeah.

I mean my thought take a take a recess at 745, which is fit another 15 minutes, and then we'll just have you want to go forward with more after the recess or not.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, so we'll go well, we'll keep going until 745.

We'll recess then and then we'll come back to the center of learning no longer.

So with that, next speaker.

S12.

Hello, everybody.

Some of you have known who I am, and I've known some of you for many years.

My name is Paris Morpopoulos.

I'm the owner of the one-stop shop, one of the uh retail businesses downtown.

I served on the downtown development board for several years under Chairman Albretton many years ago, and uh then I took over as the DDB chairman and uh served as the chairman for the remainder of the 14 years I was on the board.

I've been a Scientologist for the last 55 years.

I've lived in Clearwater since 1987.

I've been involved in our downtown here for almost 40 years.

I'm a citizen, I'm a taxpayer.

I've been an employer without as many as 17 staff, so I know what it's like to have to make payroll every payday without fail for the last since 1989.

So my building on Cleveland Street has paid about 12 to 15,000 a year in taxes.

I've been paying uh about five thousand dollars a month in sales taxes since 1989.

So I think I've been a contributing member of our downtown.

My business has survived and thrived in a tough retail environment while serving the people of downtown all these years.

So I think I've earned the right to be respected as a contributing and involved participant in our downtown.

I've made significant financial contributions to many charitable causes, such as drug education, criminal rehabilitation, the groups promoting volunteerism and a higher level of morality and ethics, which I think is much needed.

Respect is earned through years of contribution to the community.

As a Scientologist, I've worked for many years to contribute positively for Clearwater.

The request to vacate a portion of Garden Avenue is a very important one to me.

It's an essential element in the overall design of the project.

The LRH Hall will be a world-class meeting venue that we've been working towards for decades.

Personally, after many years of supporting this vision, I look forward to seeing the hall completed and enjoying the events and community activities that it will make possible.

This project represents continued investment in downtown Clearwater and will benefit both Scientologists and many members of the broader community.

I respectfully ask you to approve the Garden Avenue vacation and to allow this project to go forward.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker.

O 14.

Good evening, Mayor Council and City Management.

How many of you on this dias can say that you interact with tourists every day at least once a week or at least once a month, which is the core uh reason why the city makes its money?

Let me tell you I do, and let me tell you what they say about the city.

It's a conversation about how terrible the scenery is from the Courtney Campbell Causeway to downtown Clearwater.

That conversation's for another day, but once we get to downtown, the whole dynamic changes.

The question becomes, what's that big building on the right hand side?

And then I have to confess, well, guys, that's the Church of Scientology.

Oh, is that a cult?

Well, I don't know if I can call it a cult.

I really don't gonna want to get into religion or politics during a business transaction.

But you can call it what it is.

What else is there to do in downtown Clearwater?

Absolutely nothing because the church owns every single property or nearly every single property and every vacant property nearby.

So what you're saying is there's absolutely nothing to do in downtown downtown Clearwater.

Well, maybe see a concert when it happens.

Yes, that's correct.

The church owns almost every single piece of land.

I've been in business for 17 years.

I've had this conversation for 17 years, but let's rewind another 30 years ago when a young me was a 17-year-old guy on a bike riding through downtown Clearwater on a public sidewalk, like I was allowed to do, checking out from a distance the mega powers or superpowers building, or whatever you want to call it.

At that time, it was a hole in the ground, and we were promised it was gonna be done, but apparently it took 10 years or however long it took.

While I was admiring that hole in the ground at the time, all of a sudden I'm approached by members of the church to take my pictures and ask me what I was doing on the public sidewalk.

Keep in mind I'm on the public sidewalk.

They insulted me, they threatened me, but yet today we get free drinks, snacks, and chairs.

What I did not get that day was a welcome when I was just a curious 17-year-old young man.

Didn't need anything then, I guess.

Convenience, I guess, bribery.

Anyone on the dais being bribed?

Is that the kind of development you guys want in downtown Clearwater when it's convenient?

If you vacate this property, the church will continue to get larger.

I'll continue to have to answer more stupid questions and uncomfortable questions from the very people we tried to attempt to roll out this red carpet for.

When is it gonna stop?

I don't hate the church or its members like the previous speakers have said.

I just want promises made, promises kept, and that goes for the church and this council.

You five on this council have that decision meant to make.

Make the right choice, please.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, please.

S 13.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Jessica Elias.

I'm a Clearwater resident, a downtown property owner, a global real estate advisor with Premier Sotheby's International Realty, and a Scientologist.

I moved to Clearwater in 2017 after a career that took me across the country.

I attended Boston College and spent many years working in corporate strategy and corporate finance in New York City, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

I had the opportunity to live in some incredible cities, but I chose Clearwater as a place I wanted to call home.

I chose Clearwater because of its beauty, its waterfront, its sense of community, and because I believed in its future.

Today I own two condos in downtown Clearwater.

I live here, work here, I pay taxes here, I support local businesses, and as a real estate real estate advisor, I actively promote Clearwater to buyers and investors who are considering making this city their home as well.

For many people, this vote may seem like a discussion about a road.

For me and for many others, it is more personal than that.

The hall that this road serves is not simply another church building.

It represents years of dedication, planning, funding, and hard work by thousands of Scientologists who care deeply about Clearwater and who believe in investing in its future.

Many of us contributed financially to help make this vision a reality because we believe in this city and in what it can become.

This hall is designed, was designed to be a place that brings people together.

As a Scientologist, I am proud of that.

And as a Clearwater resident, I'm grateful for it.

I believe Clearwater has so much more potential when we start looking at each other as people who all have a stake in the city.

The greatest cities in my opinion are built when people with different perspectives work together toward a common goal.

I would love to see us choose that path.

The future of Clearwater should be one where government, residents, businesses, nonprofits, and faith communities work together to create something greater than any one group could accomplish alone.

Tonight I respectfully ask you to support this measure and to send a message that Clearwater welcomes partnership, respects investment, and is ready to build a stronger future together.

Thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration.

Thank you, ma'am.

Thanks, Speaker.

O15.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

I'm not here to talk about Scientology, all right.

I'm here to talk about the Palm Pavilion and the hotel.

That's not that's another agenda item, and I believe it's going to be passed postponed tonight.

So I didn't know that.

Yeah, this is a different agenda item.

So if we're running low on time, so if you could please, could we call the next speaker on this side?

On this.

On the, I guess the opposition side.

Oh 16.

Sir, the item we're speaking on is um.

Yes.

This is not the agenda item on the hotel.

It's not.

So when will that be?

We're still on time, so we're trying to get people up here on this one.

Yeah.

Hello.

I'm National Treasurer Mark Bunker, and I'm going to hold off on my comments on the Palm Pavilion.

But I I do want to say that I've been looking into Scientology now for close to 30 years.

And the one thing that I know is Scientologists are good, decent, smart people who truly believe they're saving the planet.

And I know that because most of my friends now are former Scientologists.

And I've got to know, I've got to know many, many people who grew up in it and experienced the entire uh setup.

Um I I can't say that uh Elron Hubbard was a good, kind, smart person.

He was a good con man, and uh I hate the fact that we're going to have a giant monument to him as the gateway into our downtown as people drive down to the beach.

Um but there's no stopping that.

I know we're not here tonight to say, no, no, we can't have an Elron Hubbard Hall.

It's about the road.

Uh I remember when the staff uh brought this forward.

Uh reading the staff's uh report, they all said, no, don't turn over the road.

We need it for our safety vehicles, we need it for uh public, and uh Scientology doesn't need that road.

They want it, but they don't need it.

I uh I would hope that you would reserve it for the public.

Um that's uh that's something that you shall decide shortly.

Um trying to think of what other thing I was going to mention here.

I'm I'm just at living all of this.

Um I tell you what, I'm just gonna call it at two minutes.

And thank you.

Thanks, sir.

Next speaker, please.

S14.

Mayor and council members.

My name is Bob Delaware, and I've lived and worked in Clearwater for more than 25 years.

My wife and I have raised four children here, our two grandchildren are growing up here as well.

I'm a Scientologist, a homeowner, taxpayer, and I voted for each one of you.

As parents, we have been fortunate to raise our children in Clearwater while being connected to Flag, the international spiritual headquarters of our religion.

Today, our son is uh computer engineer in the aerospace industry.

Our oldest daughter is a wedding photographer, another is a fifth grade uh public school teacher with a master's degree in education, and our youngest daughter is in her third year of law school locally.

We're very proud of the lives they have built and the contributions they make to our community.

Our family believes in giving back.

We are involved in our neighborhood association, volunteer in the community, and any other community activities we can.

After the hurricanes, all of us worked clearing fallen trees and debris, helping residents on Clearwater Beach, and spending hours shoveling sand out of garages down to cover the cars that were buried in them.

Um for the past 40 years, I've been a Scientology practitioner, and I've used what I've learned to help people overcome stress, anxiety, loss, and personal tragedies.

I've worked with people facing some of life's most difficult challenges, including a police officer who lost a friend in the line of duty.

He not only become free to the loss, but became alert and able to do his job safely again and assist others.

Being able to help others effectively with Scientology has been deeply meaningful to me.

This is why my wife and I have supported Elrond Hubbard Hall for more than a decade to give back to our community.

We have donated to this project because we believe in it and because we have seen the need for it firsthand.

I've attended major events at Flag for many years.

We have long since outrun Fort Harrison Auditorium, and I'm excited to finally see a venue that can accommodate the number of people locally and who come to Clearwater from around the world to see these events.

We put on incredible events, and I look forward to seeing them held in a facility that was designed for that purpose.

I also look forward to seeing my children and grandchildren enjoy those events at Old Run Hubbard Hall in the years ahead.

After supporting this project for many years, I'm proud to see it moving closer to reality.

For those reasons, I respectfully ask you to approve the Garden Avenue vacation.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker.

I'll try to be quick here.

Um that three council members is not any certain three, that's three votes.

But three votes in Scientology is one part of it.

Or you have all Clearwater citizens, Scientologists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics, non-denominational, Seventh Day Adventists, Lutherans, Assembly of God, Judaism, Agnostics, and I can't even read.

Those are all voters in Clearwater, not just Scientologists.

We don't want to let money buy the votes.

Not you people as your votes, but by the city.

Tonight, after this meeting, there should be restaurants should be with full people.

Will they be?

So I I appreciate Stu.

I uh I know his business has been here.

I know people who work for him.

They say he's a great employer.

I know he buys uh food for his staff from the businesses.

And so he does that.

So that's great.

But how come we have empty buildings where we can't put people in?

Um I had a conversation yesterday with Mr.

Ryan here on the phone.

I had a conversation with Moises Agami outside today.

I know Moises.

I know he owns most, you know, you were asking about who owns the LLC.

He owns most all the LLCs.

But what I wanted to bring up is there's a little Chinese restaurant, Chiang Mai.

Been there 25 years.

He has month to month on his lease.

And I bring that up to Moises and he laughs at me.

The poor guy's an old man, he tried to sell his business for 300,000.

He took it down to 100,000 and he couldn't sell it.

Because he had no lease to sell.

You talk about all the pretty stuff that's coming and all these businesses that are, you know, we're all for it.

If you listen to the thing, it's going to be at least two years before anything's activated.

I want to get back to another point that um either Stu or the second gentleman said.

This is going to be the final peg in what we want to do.

Not true.

They also want the firehouse and they also want the block that the the uh the city owns on the beach, and they want to put us not on a beach, but on the bluff uh for a swimming pool.

And they want others.

And if you go all across the city, they're buying up property all over because they want to own Clearwater.

Give it to the voters, please.

Uh I think I've overestimated.

We're right on the cusp of 745, so we are going to recess it.

But Major Burnside, I think you wanted to share with the um with the folks here in this room how will uh exit if they want to exit, uh, refresh themselves and then come back in, what the re-entry will be.

Those that want to leave a suit through that we uh choose the city what's saying all the centers.

For those that didn't hear, if you uh didn't hear him, if if you exit this room, uh you'll need to get a sticker so that you can come back in and rejoin us.

So we'll recess for uh for about five minutes or so.

This time we'll call the meeting back to order.

So this uh this time I need guidance from the um any guides from the council whether to continue public comment or not.

Um is there sentiment that we've kind of get the gist of what both sides are saying, or do we want to hear more?

I think the city manager has kept the breasts of the numbers who's opposed and who's in support.

If you would hear all of it, but we continue.

I would like to be at the fair, and that would mean another two hours of testimony.

And I I understand where the where the just is going.

I'd also like to point out, I mean, we do have a second reading on this too, so those that weren't able to speak tonight, you can always come back in two weeks and speak to that at that time too.

I know that I did reach out to my coverage, but I am going back to the fire engine.

He did say he's able to stay, but I'm sure he would appreciate it if I got back soon.

But I do have coverage, but I I um yeah, um that's a good point that um for any of you that are here to speak tonight.

Uh well, two things.

One, um, you know, we get uh on the date of the meeting or something on the agenda.

We get a lot.

I think we've got many emails we got in like the last four hours before the meeting.

Yeah, that's difficult to respond to, but we do our best to read everything that comes to us.

So and many many of you here tonight, I think have written to us on this issue before.

So know that that is that is one way to communicate whatever your thoughts are, and we do read all those.

Uh but to vice mayor's point.

Um, this is the first vote.

There will be another second reading two weeks from tonight, and a second vote uh on that night.

So if you didn't speak tonight, you'll have another opportunity to speak.

Uh so two of you think hearing, you know, we've we've heard enough tonight.

Is that the consensus of the rest of the council?

Okay.

So with that, we'll end public comment and we'll move to the next part of this item, which is to uh Mr.

Potter, we have some questions, I think, for the uh the council council questions.

So if you'd approach the podium.

Mayor, while the Mr.

Potter comes to the podium, I have a question.

Do you does council want the individuals who did sign up on both sides that did not get an opportunity to speak tonight to submit them anyway, so that council can review who who those individuals are.

Yes.

Okay.

So if staff can collect those cards, I'd appreciate it.

Yes.

Yeah, for the public.

Uh we're going to uh identify those that were going to speak and who you are where you're from.

So we know you were there and you were wanting to speak tonight.

So uh we have questions this time for we'll take uh kind of summarize where we're headed.

Uh we can ask uh Mr.

Potter questions we may have, and then any questions we have, and then after that we uh he'll have a chance to uh to make uh five-minute uh presentation on uh kind of a summary or rebuttal or whatever you want to call it, but uh response to what has been said, and then we'll have council discussion before we vote on the council discussion part.

Trying, you know, who goes first?

I don't know.

But uh I think what I'm gonna do is we'll get to a chance after we've asked questions for each of those discussions.

We'll go by seniority.

And uh Councilman Rome's been on Councilmember Always.

He's been on the council the longest, so we'll go to him and then Councilman Tosheda, and then uh Councilman Manino, and then the vice mayor, and then I will go last.

So um, but uh first questions for Mr.

Potter.

Yeah.

Anyone have any questions?

Okay, Councilman.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Potter.

Just a quick question, and then just for clarity.

I'm not asking this because it's going to change my opinion on um how I vote.

I'm I'm just asking for clarity uh and a better understanding.

Is this project fully funded as we sit here today?

Yes.

How about that for a direct answer?

That's all I want to lawyer ever have done that before.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Is there is there a commitment to the city that we would that if this is approved?

Uh the road is not closed until it's absolutely needed and construction is permitted and ready to begin.

Yes.

It will we will not apply for the permit until we really really need it.

Now that might be early on in the construction, so we've got to move utilities.

And right now, some of those utilities are under garden.

We were going to put utility more utilities under there, but now apparently we're going to put them out in the perimeters.

So that's also going to change when we need access to garden because we might have to put things in the perimeter before we can move things under.

So I don't really know.

We don't really know.

But yeah, we're we that's a condition that we've agreed to that we won't apply for that until we really need it.

Thank you.

Okay.

Other questions from Mr.

Bonner.

If none, then Mr.

Potter, you have uh five minutes to share with us what it is.

I'm gonna let I'm gonna let a couple of my experts uh take up the rebuttal time.

The couple things I want to talk about.

Good evening.

My name is Jim Necel.

I'm a theater planner for theater projects consultants.

I lead the design team for the hall.

Okay.

There's two things I want to address.

Um the first one is why do we need the road?

Right?

I think we can convince you the hall is going to be an amazing building for the church.

Why do we need the road?

As a designer, one of my focuses has to be entrance and egress out of the building.

Right?

I would be negligent in my role as a designer not to ask for the road.

Okay.

I'm gonna show you a little graphic.

If the camera works there, you can see that's 3,500 people exiting the hall, right?

Wow.

400 events a year.

These could be luncheons, they could be graduations, they could be banquets, right?

It could happen during the day, it could happen during the evening, right?

Temporary closure is not practical or convenient or consistent.

Okay.

So the other aspect is I've got homeland security guidance now on fortifying places of worship from a design perspective.

Okay, I need to create a buffer in front of those doors.

I need to protect that constituency in that hall.

Okay.

So that's why I need the road from a design standpoint.

The other thing we heard is traffic.

So what do we do about the traffic?

Don't our traffic engineer.

Good evening.

My name is Don Skelton.

I was the traffic consultant for this project.

I'm just going to speak on the comments that I heard here tonight.

So one of them was buses need to use Garden Avenue.

I've looked into the PSGA routes, both current and future.

There are no routes that go down this segment of Garden Avenue, and PSGA themselves have confirmed that they don't need it.

So the studies that were done looked at AM and PM, and it is true that in this area at midday is higher than AM.

However, PM is the highest peak hour.

So both studies that were done for this recently did look at the worst case scenario.

I also heard something about a 2013 study.

I don't know about that.

That would have been way before I got involved.

I know that I first submitted one in 2023.

We updated it in 2025, and then there have been some recent updates in 26.

So all within three years.

In that peak hour, there were only 17 trips, 17, that's two ways now down this segment that were not affiliated with the church.

So it's very minor.

That's what I have.

Or the design side.

The hall is transfigurable if you're curious.

3500 seats in event mode.

We can go to a flat floor and support 1250 for banquet.

Okay, there's an 11,000 square foot banquet kitchen that supports it.

So when the church says that they're doing charity events that involve you know dining and banqueting and that sort of thing, the hall is designed to support that.

Okay.

Anything else?

That's all we have, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, with that move to council discussion.

So with that, we'll go to um Ralburton first.

Okay.

Okay, precedent for right-of-way vacations in the city of Clearwater is both long-standing and well established.

Over the past 26 years, the city council has approved hundreds of vacation right-aways vacations, benefiting a wide range of petitioners, including private property owners, churches, and commercial developers.

Among those approvals, First United Methodist Church received a vacation of a hundred foot alley on Turner Street to facilitate parking expansion.

Peace Memorial Church was granted a vacation of 150 115 foot alleyway to accommodate site improvements.

And Calvary Baptist Church has received 15 separate right-of-way vacations in support of various expansion projects.

Those are just a few out of the hundred.

In each of these cases, the process was the same.

The request was publicly presented, its purpose clearly articulated, the matter openly discussed, and the council rendered its decision.

None of these vacations was clouded by allegations of impropriety, undue influence, or bad faith.

To success to suggest that circumstance exists in this case is unsupported by facts.

That position was contradicted by an opinion issued by the Florida Attorney General.

When the properties abutting this segment of Garden Avenue were originally platted in the early 1920s, a public right-of-way was dedicated over privately owned land for roadway purposes.

The underlying property remains vested in the abutting landowners who possess the legal right to petition the city for a vacation of that right-of-way.

The presence of a public street immediately adjacent to the entrance of a newly constructed facility raises what they believe is a legitimate safety and security concern.

The traffic data further supports the request.

This segment of Garden Avenue carries fewer than 10 non-Scientology vehicles per hour, while approximately 68% of all traffic on the roadway is Scientology related.

By comparison, nearby Court Street accommodates nearly 10,000 vehicles a day.

The practical effect of vacating this limited segment on a broader transportation network would therefore be negligible.

The city's own planning analysis reinforced that conclusion.

No projected traffic associated with anticipated future development is expected to utilize this roadway segment.

And the Pinella Suncoat Transit Authority has indicated, and I am a board member of that bus service, has indicated that there is no plans to use Garden Avenue for access to the new transit center.

Scientology has petitioned twice for vacation for this portion of Garden Avenue.

As the abutting property owner, it is a title to have its request considered under the same standard and procedures applied to every other petitioner who has who has appeared before this council.

Reasonable individuals may differ on the wisdom of granting this request, and those who oppose it are entitled to have their concerns heard and respected.

Public debate is a healthy and necessary part of the decision-making process.

Ultimately, however, the question before the council is not whether every citizen agrees with the request, but whether there exists a sufficient public purpose to retain this right-of-in-light of the facts presented.

I find no compelling basis for denying this request.

So let me begin by saying that this is the first time I had the opportunity to talk.

We're supposed to do it at the workshop, and then uh we changed our mind.

So I'm asking for everyone's patience because I do feel it's important that I talk you through my thought process.

So I do not oppose the right to have the applicant do this project.

I do not, and I support the project.

However, I do not support vacating Garden Avenue at this time.

My position is based, again, not on the opposition of the project itself, but on the substantial concerns identified by residents, meaning it's multiple city departments, professional staff, and our own adapted adopted planning policies.

So first, the request appears inconsistent with Clearwater's downtown redevelopment plan.

The plan specifically emphasizes connectivity.

The plan specifically emphasizes connectivity, mobility choices as well as the retention of downtown street create.

It discourages the vacation of streets and alleys unless the equivalent is replaced.

One of the guiding principles of the downtown district is a connected, walkable, drivable street network.

And the plan explicitly states that existing streets should be retained and expanded where possible, and super blocks discouraged.

But we are being asked to consider removing a road, not replacing it, and now creating a super mega block.

Second, there remains significant transportation and mobility questions that have not yet been fully resolved.

Staff noted that the traffic analysis does not appear to fully account for approved and permitted downtown projects, meaning the ones that are happening now and in the future.

Overall future growth, peak traffic conditions, and overlapping activity from Coachman Park and other major downtown destinations, including the one that's being presented, which is the movie theater.

These omissions are particularly important given the substantial amount of development currently underway and a lot that's about to come in the near very near future.

Third, public works, engineering, and transportation staff have identified future public infrastructure considerations that may be affected by this request.

Garden Avenue has been identified by the PSDA as a potential future transit corridor associated with the relocation of the transit center.

Now, it was noted by staff, and I have had separate conversations with several PSEA employees that are concerned.

The corridor also contains city stormwater infrastructure, telecommunication facilities, and lines adjacent to future roadway improvement projects which include infrastructure.

Once a public street is vacated, the flexibility and these future public options become significantly more limited.

It is also worth noting that the applicant's own renderings, promotional materials, including their Freedom Magazine, and video presentations from approximately 2013 to 2019 consistently depicted the project functioning within the existing downtown street network, with Garden Avenue remaining open and publicly accessible.

I do not believe the choice is between the project and the street.

I believe both can coexist.

The project's own earlier vision demonstrated that possibility.

To me, that is significant because it suggests the project was originally envisioned as compatible with the downtown environment, interconnected and coexisting with public streets, as well as the surrounding urban environment.

Today's request reflects a shift from integration towards isolation.

The evolution of the request suggests a transition from participating in downtown's fabric to seeking greater separation from it through removal of a public street.

So if the project was viable when Garden Street was shown open in the applicant's own initial plans, then the burden should be on demonstrating why it could no longer remain open today.

I also struggle with the equity of permanently eliminating a public street for a venue that in its own very own nature will host scheduled events only, intermittently with a significant amount being private and not open to the general public, while the public loses access every day.

We have successfully maintained access on Osceola Avenue while accommodating three major construction projects: a hotel, 400 new apartments, and a parking garage.

We are currently finishing up the new city hall.

We have in the future major infrastructure improvements, transit investments, redevelopment of numerous downtown properties, as well as the upcoming 17 county parcel initiatives.

At a time when we are investing millions of dollars and countless hours of sweat equity to improve the access, mobility, connectivity, and activation, I struggle with the idea of permanently removing a public street from the downtown grid.

Now I do want to add the concern about security, because it's been brought up several times tonight.

I appreciate fully the desire for security and operational control.

However, the project was intentionally located in the heart of downtown environment.

Downtowns are designed to be accessible, to be connected and shared by the public.

If a project chooses an urban setting, some degree of public activity, public access, and public proximity comes with that choice.

The applicant chose a downtown location, and downtowns are by definition shared public environment.

Talking about egress, ingress, and accessibility.

Our Baycare Sound has 9,000 people leaving, and we did not close any streets.

It goes straight to Osceola and Drew.

A downtown is not, unfortunately, a secure perimeter.

A downtown is a shared public place.

And if we begin removing public access whenever it conflicts with the private preference, we risk undermining the very qualities that make every downtown successful.

So the issue, in my mind, before us is not whether the project can succeed.

I believe it can, and I believe it will.

The issue is whether it has been demonstrated that its success requires the permanent elimination of a public asset.

Public asset.

Based on the concerns identified by public works, engineering, transportation, development review, and the downtown redevelopment plan itself, I am not persuaded that the burden has been met.

From an urban planning perspective, the privatization of streets within an urban core runs fundamentally counter to the principles that guide a successful downtown development.

And perhaps the most important question is this.

If we are willing to remove public roads from the downtown grid at the very beginning of our urban renaissance, what kind of downtown are we ultimately trying to build?

I believe we must be careful not to prioritize the preference preferences of a single applicant over the long-term interests of a downtown or a city as a whole.

Public streets belong to everyone.

Their value extends beyond the simple project or a single point in time.

The purpose of a downtown street is to provide public access, not only to be an available when it's inconvenient.

A vibrant downtown is not measured by the number of buildings we renovate, but how easily people can access, navigate, and enjoy it.

We can always close a street later if we deem it necessary.

We cannot get it back once it's gone.

At the rate we're going, we may actually eventually achieve the 100% walkability.

But not because we designed a great urban downtown, but because we've simply removed all the roads we can drive on.

But the greatest irony in my mind is that after decades of effort by countless people to revitalize downtown Clearwater, we are actually now debating a permanent removal of street that will gain access to our success.

We should be careful that in our enthusiasm to support redevelopment, we do not begin pulling at the very threads that weave a downtown together.

A connected downtown is not created by success or sorry, by accident.

It can just as easily be unraveled one decision at a time.

So I believe, and it's important, that we do not let ourselves set be part of our own self-inflicted failure.

Council Member?

Council Member Manino.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I want to start by I think thanking staff uh in Clearwater PD for the care, concern, time, effort that you put into making sure tonight wasn't only safe, uh, but the the evening ran efficient, professional, and fair and balanced.

Uh and I don't want to take the time and have the whole building clap, but if we could do the old jazz hands first, um thank you.

And um they they truly deserve it.

Um we had a split room and split opinions and split discussions on the topic.

I think it's important that we recognize in the moment some of the things we do share in what I heard from both sides, regardless of what side of the wall uh you were ushered to uh was the passion and the love for our community for Clearwater that we all call home.

Uh and that that's what we share, and that's a beautiful thing.

And regardless of where we were on this discussion, I want to congratulate and thank all speakers that took the courage to get up and stand at a podium.

Um that's not easy.

Uh it's respected whether some of us agree or disagree.

Um some people get up here and almost break down in tears and shake because it's not easy, uh, and the nerves are hard.

Uh but they overcome it and they stand up and speak, and they have that right, and I'm glad we got to hear so many opinions tonight.

I may be wrong in my assumption, but I don't think anybody showed up tonight on the dais or in any of our four rooms with an open willingness to change their position in this discussion.

So my talk going forward is not in any way, shape, or form in an attempt to convince anybody that I'm right, to convince anybody that they're wrong, or to tell you who's right and who's wrong, but to simply give you a little bit of clarity on my decision making process and how I came to a place of peace and comfort in making the decision to support this vacation.

I think the attorney general has opined that the Church of Scientology most likely owns the road, which means the City of Clearwater, therefore does not.

He also made it clear in his communications that we need to be extremely careful as a city and as a leadership team as we venture down what has been deemed a path of discrimination, and that's not a path that any of us, I know all of our the hearts on this dais.

Um that's not a path anybody ever intended or wants or finds comfort uh in walking down.

Clearwater has established a consistent precedent regarding internally how we handle vacations and public right away.

Uh, in fact, that consistency, we've seen 43 vacation applications over the years, 56 right-aways vacated, zero were denied.

Zero in the history of our city.

I'm not interested in going down a path of discrimination and deciding that this be the project that we begin that path.

VG has said that it is our legal obligation when a vacation request comes in, or a development application is submitted, to read it blindly, to remove the applicant's name, and to judge it by its merits.

Or Habitat for Humanity on that vacation request or application.

I truly, in my heart, don't feel we would be sitting here this evening.

We would not be sitting here until 8 30, 9 o'clock, that's for sure, on our fourth round of doing this.

Does this vacation negatively affect emergency services?

No.

Does this vacation negatively affect emergency response times?

No.

Does this vacation negatively affect beach evacuation routes in case of hurricanes or weather?

The answer is no.

Does this vacation negatively affect our newly in construction PSTA multimodal facility?

According to the president and CEO of PSTA, the answer is no.

Whether it's misinformation or opinions have changed.

The answer from the organization is no.

Does the two traffic studies that are more recent as we just heard than might have been presented?

Thank you for presenting that.

Do those two traffic studies on South Garden, and I call them two because I'm acknowledging the most recent.

Do they identify an impact on traffic flow or capacity in our current travel network in downtown?

According to the data, no.

But with that obligation comes a duty to treat all of our constituents fairly and equally, regardless of your religion, your race, your creed, your sexual preference, the color of your skin, your where you're from, where you were born, whether you're right footed, left-footed, ergonomic or not.

Doesn't matter.

My decision making filter from this chair must go deeper than that of one of well, do you have trust?

It must go deeper and spread wider than one of just a moral or ethical basis.

Sentiments, frustrations, years of experiences, maybe for some.

And with that answer, I with peace in my heart believe that supporting this vacation is the right thing to do.

Thank you.

Councilmember Manito, Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you all for being here tonight.

I think civic engagement is extremely important and something that is a bedrock to this nation.

So I appreciate everybody that attended, whether you were in support or against what we're discussing here tonight.

As many of you may know, if you do watch these on riveting nights, I'm usually one of the first to go.

So going second to last, a lot of things have already been said that I I've already planned on saying.

So, you know, when we think about the PSTA lot, you know, I try and use common sense.

Bus drivers aren't stupid, and those routes are made beforehand, they'll adapt and overcome.

And a simple one for me right off the bat is just use East Street to Pierce.

You have a stoplight, and you can make a lift.

So there's that.

You know, I also am not going to get into all of the wonderful data points that have already been pointed out to the vacations.

And I think the overarching one that everybody, you could hear the silence in the room and then the gaps that was taken, uh, is that no vacation requests have been denied.

I think that speaks volumes on what previous boards as well as this board stands for.

And something that I ran on, and something that I truly believe that is core to who I am as a person is limited government constitutional person, right?

So when I look and and have to do things based on their merit and a policy standpoint, I'm gonna judge those by not holding somebody accountable because of their race, religion, or creed.

That would just be completely wrong.

So we go back to does the project and the request have merit.

For a lot of people, and I'm not trying to be sentimental here, but when we think of safety, it's a thought, right?

Many of us, God thankfully, have not been in a drastic emergency.

For the first responders that are in uniform in this room, and for my job, it's what we do as a career.

So when we talk about pedestrians getting hit, I've dealt with that from children to adults, right?

It's just what I signed up to do, I counted the cost, I thoroughly enjoy mitigating situations and helping people in their times of need.

So I judge this on safety solely, and that is where I understand the need for the vacation request.

So when we do have people that are expressing uh safety concern, not just for their families or the children's, but quite frankly for themselves, right?

That's very important because life is extremely fragile, right?

And that's why I'm also proud to share my faith up here as a Christian and spread the gospel because I believe that's my number one charge.

But um, you know, to that, you never know.

We could go out of this place here tonight and something drastic happen.

So safety is of the utmost importance, and if taking that road, that in my opinion, I've said it before, I'll say it again, is nominally used.

What was it, 9 p.m.?

Only 17 trips that weren't attributed to flag usage.

Um who knows when that study was done.

Maybe I was one of those trips just going by randomly to see if it was being used.

Um, you know, that's truly, you know.

I mean, I do these things because the mayor has alluded to and other council members, we do get emails.

So when I hear of another project that's going on in blocked views, I've driven out there.

I go to near the address, not to be a creeper, um, but you know, to see, get the purview, put my shoes in what the citizens are seeing.

So I I appreciate the sentiments and the data points that have already been been made.

Um I am full support of the project simply from a safety standpoint because I live it every day, and and people of this community, the residents deserve safety, and you deserve to feel safe when you're going in uh to any building in this area.

Um, and I will yield whatever time I have left and look forward to the rest of the discussion.

Okay.

Well, that would leave me, and um, you know, tonight um uh really for me it's it's a very narrow question.

Are we going to vacate Garden Avenue, this portion of Garvinette Garden Avenue or not?

Uh I appreciate uh the many people who came tonight to speak, and uh and maybe on both sides their uh comments wandered into things that you know may not have been directly on point.

Um, but for me it's about whether or not as a planning and development issue, we want to close this active currently used by the public street in our downtown core.

Okay, and uh so um I I want to say just you know, over mails I've gotten from uh folks who are here tonight um supporting vacation street.

Uh I I've never questioned any of you or the value or the what you've brought to our community.

We had some folks come to the podium tonight that spoke about how they've had businesses here, they've raised their families.

I I've I've never questioned any any of you who are here tonight uh your value you have added to this community and the good things you've done for this community in so many ways.

And I can tell stories of who were people who are here tonight that I know that are members of Scientology who have uh done wonderful things for our community.

So let me let I want everybody to know it's not about that.

It's not about and uh it's about whether or not it's a it is within our stated city development plan for the downtown core to vacate and active and currently used by the public screen.

So no discrimination here, nobody's discreet, nobody's picking on it's uh I I don't know of all the streets we say that were vacated.

How many were active, had all these had only I forget how many parking spots uh on them uh where we're collecting parking.

How many of those street vacations were for streets like this one?

Um I don't know.

I don't know if there are any like that.

Uh how many were in the downtown core that were vacated?

I don't know.

Uh all I know is we're considering this one street that is active and is used by the public today.

Um so all uh I appreciate everyone sharing tonight a lot of the history on both sides, you know, and their personal feelings were interesting to me, but for me it's about the growth and future of downtown Clearwater and whether or not we need more streets, not to be vacating the streets we already have.

And uh so that brings me to where I'm I'm looking at this from my planning perspective, and I'm referring to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan, which you can see on our website says this.

Uh it says the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan is a long-term vision for the downtown and includes an implementation plan for achieving this vision.

The plan was updated in 2018 to make existing properties and buildings more viable while still preserving neighborhood character.

The downtown district and development standards, appendix C, which I'm going to quote from here in a minute, of the city's community development code establishes permitted use, form of new development, signed regulations, and other standards which work together to achieve the city's vision for the downtown core.

Downtown Clearwater will thrive as the urban core and heart of the city, as the center of the business and government, and as an attractive place to live, work, shop, and play, a revitalized downtown will be achieved through quality urban design, continued creation and creation of a high quality public realm, and a dense livable pattern which will strengthen the overall health of the city.

So this was considered by our community.

It was uh voted on and approved by a prior council.

Uh and it's what we envisioned in 2018, but we all know we didn't have the Bay Caraca, we didn't have a lot of things that are going on today.

We didn't have a lot of things that are going on today.

But we knew that certain things needed to be preserved and done to make our downtown core successful.

And so this appendix C that I'm reading out of in Section C 502 development pattern A says existing street preservation.

The existing street network shall be maintained.

The vacation of existing public streets and alleys shall be discouraged unless new public streets and alleys are constructed to replace and serve the function of those vacated.

So I I appreciate the folks that do traffic studies and but uh I have done my own traffic study on this portion of Garden Avenue for about a decade.

Um I've worked and lived in some I've lived in downtown Clearwater, uh, worked in downtown Clearwater for about 10 years, did uh with a private company and and now been coming downtown to City Hall, and I've lived out on Clearwater Beach all that time.

And I can tell you that I have used an average of this portion of Garden Avenue almost every day.

I've used it three times today.

Uh the one time that I was driving actually out off from downtown on on to head out to the beach.

Uh I spoke with someone who was not a uh member of Scientology, who um uh but was you know open minded about vacating the street and and actually said, well, it might be a good idea, and they said, Mayor, um I I'm down there all the time, and nobody ever, I I never see cars parked on that street.

And I had to stop him, and I said, Well, I'm sitting here right now, and not only is every parking spot full on both sides of the street, I've passed three cars have passed me on my way out, and there are even two cars parked on the south side of State Road 60 in the parking spots over there.

Granted, many of those spots and a lot of that use is used by members of Scientology City seminars, but they're used by the public, and they're used by folks like me who are not members of Scientology.

We're not because it is from the beach, particularly, or from South.

I know others who live south off Fort Harrison.

That's the easiest way for them to get to downtown Clearwater, the Garden Avenue Garage.

Now, is it robust, heavy?

No, we haven't had the downtown activity that we wanted.

Everyone knows that.

That's why we're working really hard to get more and more people to live, work and play downtown.

That's why we have projects going.

Uh, but we hopefully more and more people will use that portion of Garden Avenue as we try to get people to downtown Clearwater, to Cleveland Street, to all the activities, the Bay Care Sound going forward.

But as Councilmember Teshade has said, and why we have this in this plan, once we vacate a street, we we're not, we can't, and that's why it says if you're going to do it, have it have a plan to replace it with another street.

This is good planning.

This is what we decided on as a community in 2018.

We were going to do.

And now 2018, we did not have the beach we have today.

Clearwater Beach has grown exponentially over those years.

Um we have opened so many resort hotels, added so many rooms out there.

Folks of us that live out on the beach will tell you it's not always you know the most convenient thing for us.

We didn't build more streets, but we added more capacity, we had more people out there.

Um but we have added a lot of people who are going past this our downtown every day.

Uh we have the Bay Air Sound, which is drawing up to 9,000 people for a show.

I too, if I come to a show at the Sound, I'll park in the Garden Avenue garage.

I'll exit to go back to the beach down Garden Avenue.

What I see when I go through there, I see people parking with concert t-shirts of whoever the performer is, parking on that street and walking to the Bay Air Sound if it's a very large event and very large night.

We also have Coachman Park, which is active.

We've had many events down there, which uh on big nights, big activities.

We're gonna have Fourth of July coming up.

We'll have people parking on Garden Avenue and using that street that night.

We have the Bluff Apartment Complex going up.

400 units.

More and more demand for more streets to get into our access roads into downtown.

We have the ballot hotel.

More and more demand coming for more folks to have access points to get into our downtown.

We are opening our city hall sometime later this year.

Another demand to get more and more people into that downtown core in our city to visit City Hall.

And hopefully we've heard Cleveland Street development, more and more things coming.

We need every street possible existing, and I would argue we need more streets to get people into and out of down the downtown core.

That's why we put this in our plan.

We knew we were going to grow.

We knew we were going to have to have activity.

We need every street we have, and we need more.

16,500 per day.

That's six million three hundred and eighty-nine thousand five hundred per year.

Wow.

If we could get all those folks who are now driving past our downtown to get into our downtown, that is our secret to success.

And maybe it hasn't been robustly used for that today, but wow, wouldn't it be great to make that street another access for them to get off?

Maybe they're stuck in traffic during spring break, an excuse to go directly and to visit something on Cleveland Street, something our downtown.

So we've got that going that direction.

Fort Harrison has, I forget how much they said, but it's uh somewhere around 15,000 a day go up and down Fort Harrison.

Myrtle Avenue, not far away, 22,000 cars a day, go across Merle Avenue on that side.

We've got all this heavy traffic, all these potential visitors, all these folks who could help us make our downtown more robust, more vibrant, more full of people, if we just had more ways to get them in there.

They're driving right past.

We've got to have not only the streets we have, but we've got to have more ways for folks to get into downtown Clatter.

So the problem's not, you know, not getting them to downtown.

The problem has been for Clearwater is to get them into downtown.

One thing is we've not had the attractions, we've not had the activities.

But those are already starting.

I mentioned the ballot hotel apartment complex and Bay Air Sound's already been successful, and we hope we'll become even more successful.

So this is about our downtown core.

We're seeing signs, we've and and this is not even counting the county properties, which the county has indicated it's going to redevelop.

Um this is an opportunity for us to think about our transportation downtown altogether.

Um right now, Court Street winds through, it comes past Garden Avenue and then beers to the right.

When the county uh decides it's going to relocate, if it eventually does, potentially you could move uh State Road 60 further north, free up more property for them and cut through the southern part of these two parcels that uh they're at the corner of, at least at the corner of uh Fort Harrison Garden.

Um that would help get traffic out to the beach.

That would help, you know, reconfiguration would help get traffic to downtown.

But folks uh doing this piecemeal street by street, deciding, oh well, we're gonna close this one and then we get another, oh well, we'll close this one.

That's not the way to accommodate the growth and interest and business activity and visitors and people who live downtown.

We need planning.

And I would hope that if we do vote to vacate the street, we'll we'll reconvene on what are we doing in downtown Clearwater for transportation streets.

Um because doing it piecemeal, one off, this is not good planning.

And this is why we said the existing street network should be maintained.

The vacation of the existing public streets and alleys shall be discouraged unless new public streets and alleys are just constructed replaced and serve in function of those vacated.

So for those reasons, not because no discrimination, nobody's picking on anybody.

I have personally used this street for 10 years, and I know others have too.

Has it been as robust and thriving as we wanted?

No.

The entire downtown hasn't, let's be honest about it.

But it can be.

Okay, is there any further discussion?

Mayor, if you don't, if you don't mind, thank you.

I want to I think we know where we stand.

I don't think there's a need to waste um any anybody else's time, and let's bring an end to this.

I would just like to comment um respectfully, uh, because we have heard a lot of discussions and talk tonight about the vital importance of our downtown thoroughfares.

Um they are vitally important to our downtown.

And we've read comp plans from 2018 and staff's approval and heard a lot of those discussions, which are are great to have.

But um what kind of surprises me is that we're not having discussions about a closed Cleveland street in both directions, and I don't think there's a bigger artery to and from our downtown other than court.

So um you know, we I don't think any one of the five of us interrupted you when you were speaking, so if you could please accommodate us while we're speaking, thank you.

Yeah, uh boy born and raised in Clearwater in Cleveland Street used to be the only thoroughfare to get to our beach.

Um, every single, I don't know what the number was, six million or whatever.

Used to drive by every single business on Cleveland.

Um but I haven't heard any discussions for the two years I've been here about reopening it in any direction and the concern about shutting down those thoroughfares or not having traffic and connectivity to move people for current or future development.

So I guess I'll look forward to us entertaining that discussion at a at a later time if need be.

But for the sake of time, I want to to make a motion to approve ordinance number 990726.

Council members, before we make a motion, I do need a motion to amend um the ordinance.

Uh we need to amend section 2.1 of the ordinance to change it from five to I finish and put it in the motion.

Yes, you can't.

Thank you.

Do we do we need a reading on this too?

Or are we allowed to do that?

We do need to read the title, but um I just want to make sure that the amending the motion first, yeah.

Do you want to do the reading first or should I proceed?

Ordinance number 9907-26.

An ordinance of the city of Clearwater, Florida, vacating city right away, more particularly described as the southern portion of Garden Avenue, abutting lots 6-11, together with that portion of the abutting vacated 15-foot alley, line between lots 10 and 11 of the court square subdivision as recorded in plat book five, page 53 of the public records of Pinellas County, Florida, providing conditions, providing severance, providing an effective date.

Thank you.

Move to approve ordinance number 9907-26 and amend 2.1 from five years to six years.

Second.

Okay.

Um I don't uh I don't want to debate what you just said, but um yeah, because I think we already know we're gonna vote, and we um that'll be another day, but I don't believe there we vacated Cleveland Street, have we?

No, just closed it.

Oh, we have but we haven't vacated it.

Yeah, okay.

Just for the record.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, I actually want to if you don't.

I mean, it's a long night, so I'm I would like at some point to have that discussion because I was actually there and part of that decision making process, and so I can perhaps go over it at a later time, but I would be very much interested in talking about that uh situation and um share my thoughts about what the difference is, one of which is it's not closed, it's just temporary barriers that we can open at any time.

Okay, so yes, let's talk about that in the future.

All right, ready to vote.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Okay, opposed?

Nay.

Okay, that would be um three voting in favor, and council member Tosheda and myself voting against okay.

We will move to one second here, hang up six five was moved.

So it looks six point five approved development agreement between MHG Pompavilion Hotel LP Six Flag Planted L L C and the City of Clearwater property located at 10 Bay Esplanade and 18 Bay Esplanade, adopt resolution 2609 and authorize the appropriate official sexy Q.

Council members, this item needs to come back to council at a future date.

There was an issue with the noticing.

The information that we retrieved from the Pinellas County website was incorrect, although we've advertised it and provided notice.

The individuals who should have received notice were not part of that database.

So uh the applicant has reached out to Pinellas County and uh Pinellas County is in the process of correcting that matter.

As soon as we are able to re-notice it, then we will pick up this hearing at a schedule at a letter later date.

Okay.

Okay, we'll continue 6.5 then and uh move to 6.6.

Appoint Nancy B.

Mag as a special magistrate pursuant to section 162.03, Florida statutes and section five-406 and article seven of the Clearwater Community Development Code, adopt resolution 26-11 and approve legal services agreement authorizing the permanent officials execute setting.

Good evening, Lauren Mavski, planning and development.

So resolution 26-11 is noted, appoints Nancy Mag as special magistrate and approves the associated special magistrate services agreement as discussed at Monday's work session.

Planning and development is seeking to establish a special magistrate as an additional enforcement tool within the city's code compliance program.

The goal is to use the special magistrate process to reduce the number of items going to the code board and make the enforcement process more efficient for everyone involved.

Okay.

If not, may we have a reading.

Resolution number two six dash eleven.

Resolution of City of Clearwater appointing attorney Nancy B.

Mag Esquire as a code enforcement special magistrate, approving a special magistrate services agreement for the same and providing for an effective date.

No discussion is there a motion.

Motion approve agenda item 6.6.

Second.

All those in favor?

Opposed, unanimous.

Approve the annexation initial future land use map designation of residential low RL and initial zoning atlas designation of low medium density residential L and D R district for 5054 ON Drive and pass ordinances 9903-26, 9904-26, and 9905-26 on first reading.

All right, good evening again, Lauren Manske, planning and development for the record.

This agenda item is a voluntary annexation of a point four three-acre residential property located on Owen Drive.

The applicate applicant is seeking annexation in order to receive city sanitary sewer and solid waste services.

The development review committee reviewed this request and recommends approval because the property is contiguous to existing city boundaries and located within an enclave.

The city has adequate capacity to provide sanitary sewer, solid waste, police, fire, and EMS services.

The proposed residential low future land use designation and low medium density residential zoning district are consistent with the property's current use and existing county designations.

And the request is consistent with Clearwater 2045 and the city's policy or processing voluntary annexations for residential enclave properties.

Okay.

Ordinance number 9903-26.

Ordinance of the City of Clearwater, Florida, annexing certain real property located on the west side of Owen Drive, approximately 597 feet south of State Road 590, whose post office address is 1554 Owen Drive, Clearwater, Florida, 33759, into the corporate limits of the city and redefining the boundary lines of the city to include set editions, providing an effective date.

Ordinance number 9904-26.

An ordinance of the city of Clearwater, Florida, amending the future land use element of the comprehensive plan of the city to designate the land use for certain real property located on the west side of Owen Drive, approximately 597 feet south of State Road 590, whose post off address is 1554 Owen Drive, Clearwater, Florida, 33759 upon annexation to the City of Clearwater as residential low RL providing an effective date.

Ordinance number 9905-26, an ordinance of the city of Clearwater, Florida, amending the zoning atlas of the city by zoning certain real property located on the west side of Owen Drive, approximately 597 feet south of State Road 590, whose post office address is 1554 Owen Drive, Clearwater, Florida, 33759 upon annexation to the City of Clearwater as low medium density residential LMDR, providing an effective date.

Is there any council discussion on this agenda?

If not, it's through a motion.

Motion to approve uh agenda item 6.7.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed unanimous.

Agenda item 6.8.

Approve the annexation for 1399 Pineapple Lane and pass ordinance 99 9896-26 on first reading.

Right.

For the record, Lauren Matske, planning and development.

And this voluntary annexation request was actually initiated by the City of Clearwater Parks and Recreation Department.

Parks and Recreation would like to incorporate the subject property into the Moccasin Lake Nature Park.

The development review committee reviewed the request and recommends approval because the property is contiguous to existing city boundaries.

Annexation will not negatively impact city services.

And the request is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and community development code.

I will note that there are two companion items associated with this request.

Because the property is currently designated for residential development as and is proposed instead to be integrated into the city park.

Additional land use and zoning actions are needed.

This item addresses therefore the annexation only, and the next two items will address those remaining items.

Items thank you.

I guess I'm nervous.

So sorry.

I hope so.

Sorry about the pressure here.

Okay, anyone here from the public, since you're all here, would like to speak to this G9.

Okay.

That's fair.

Uh here I say none.

Uh is there any council discussion?

Oh, excuse me.

Maybe we get a reading.

Ordinance number nine eight nine six-26.

Ordinance of the city of Clearwater, Florida, annexing certain real property located on the south side of Pineapple Lane, approximately 210 feet south of Naval Drive, whose post office address is 1399 Pineapple Lane, Clearwater, Florida, 33758, into the corporate limits of the city, and redefining the boundary lines of the city to include set edition, providing an effective date.

Now is there a council discussion.

If not, still a motion.

Move to approve agenda item 6.8.

Second.

Those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed.

Unanimous.

Agenda item 6.9.

Approve of future land use map amendments from residential low RL category to the recreation open space ROS.

Category for 1399 Pineapple Lane and pass ordinance 9899-26 on First Street.

All right, Lauren Matsky, Planning and Development.

So this agenda item addresses the request to change the future land use map designation for 1399 Pineapple Lane from residential low to which is its current county designation to recreation open space upon annexation.

So the 3.4 acre parcel is currently vacant.

It has not been developed with any residential use.

The proposed amendment would make the future land use designation consistent with the remainder of the Moccasin Lake Nature Park, which abuts the property to the south and the west.

The development review committee reviewed this request and recommended approval because the proposed recreation open space designation is compatible with the existing and planned uses in the area.

Adequate public facilities are available to service the property.

The amendment will not adversely affect the natural environment.

And lastly, the request is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan.

The community development board considered this request at its April 21st regularly scheduled meeting and unanimously recommends approval to city council.

Seeing none, maybe we get a reading.

Ordinance number 9899-26.

Ordinance of the City of Clearwater, Florida, amending the future land use element of the comprehensive plan, designation of the city.

Change the land use for certain real property located on the south side of the pineapple lane, who's approximately 210 feet south of Naval Drive, whose post office address is 1399 Pineapple Lane, Clearwater, Florida, 33758 from residential low RL in Pinellas County to recreation open space, ROS upon annexation to the City of Clearwater, providing an effective date.

Isn't there any council discussion?

If not, store a motion.

Move to approve agenda item 6.9.

Second.

Agenda item 7.1.

Approve a zoning atlas amendment from residential agriculture RA Pinellas County District to the Open Space Recreation OSR in the Clearwater District for 1399 Pineapple Lane and pass ordinance 9900-26 on first reading.

And one last time for the record, Lauren Matsky, Planning and Development.

So this is the final companion case for 1399 Pineapple Lane.

I'm glad it's a fun word to say Pineapple Lane.

Sorry.

The request is to change the zoning designation from residential agriculture in Pinellas County to the open space recreation zoning district upon annexation.

The development review committee reviewed the request and recommends approval because the proposed zoning is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and supports the intended use of the integration as part of Moccus and Lake Nature Park.

The open space recreation district is appropriate for the property and is compatible with the surrounding park.

The amendment is not expected to adversely affect or impact nearby properties or public facilities.

And the proposed district boundaries are appropriate given the property location, ownership, existing conditions, and natural environment.

The community development board considered this item on April 21st and unanimously recommended approval.

Seeing none, may we have a reading.

Ordinance number 990-26.

Ordinance of the City of Clearwater, Florida, amending the zoning atlas of the city by rezoning certain real property located on the south side of Pineapple Lane, approximately 210 feet south of Naval Drive, whose post office address is 1399 Pineapple Lane, Clearwater, Florida, 33758, from residential agriculture RA in Pinellas County to open space recreation OSR upon annexation to the City of Clearwater, providing an effective date.

Is there any council discussion?

If not, it's through a motion.

Motion approve agenda item 7.1.

Second.

All those in favor?

Opposed, unanimous.

Agenda item 8.1.

Just a second reading.

I'll go ahead and read the title.

Umrdnance number 9881-26.

An ordinance of the city of Clearwater, Florida, vacating the platted east 20 feet portion of the lake drainage and utility easement.

Light on lot 12-A, Clearview Lake Estates, as recorded in Platbook 66, page 37 of the public records of Pinellas County, providing an effective date.

Okay.

Anyone here from the public now desire to speak to this agenda?

Okay.

Hearing seeing none.

Uh is there any council discussion?

Not a motion.

Motion to approve agenda item 8.1.

Second.

All those in favor?

Opposed unanimous.

Uh nine.

Uh do we have any citizens to be heard tonight on items that are not on the ACP?

Okay.

I'm waiting for the list, but we can, if there's anybody inside chambers who looks like we have one.

Okay.

Yeah.

Items not on the agenda.

Yes, sir.

Second part for that because I'm ready for that.

Apologize.

Give me one second.

I apologize, guys.

Hopefully the clock's not sorted yet.

Okay.

Umce again.

Good evening, Mayor Council and City Management.

Uh like to recognize something positive.

Mayor Rector and City Manager Foyer, thank you for attending the Clearwater High School 2026 graduation.

Um, your presence demonstrated support for our students' families, and during an important milestone in their life.

Um Ms.

Poirier, I know you stayed there and engaged with every one of those graduates.

I'm sure your hands tired, and uh, we do appreciate it.

And it didn't go unnoticed.

So thank you.

Um, unfortunately, I must address uh another matter though of significant concern.

Last Sunday's events on Clearwater Beach were deeply troubling.

As a lifelong resident business owner, someone who cares deeply about our city, I was disappointed not only by what occurred but by the perception that it may have been preventable.

In the days that followed neighboring neighboring jurisdictions, including Pasco and Hernando County Sheriff's Office, demonstrated the ability to identify and disrupt similar gatherings before they occurred.

Clearwater has invested heavily in public safety technology, including the real-time operations center where the Rock Center and flock camera systems.

These tools should help prevent incidents, not simply investigate those incidents afterwards.

If law enforcement was aware of this gathering being organized, residents deserve to know what preventative measures were taken.

And was intelligence gathered, were organizers identified and were intervention strategies considered, were opportunities missed.

These questions are especially relevant given the departments demonstrated an ability to use these technologies in other investigations.

I was also disappointed in Wallach's comments in regards to kids being kids.

Most parents would agree that teenagers carrying firearms, engaging in doors orderly behavior and creating public safety concerns is not a normal adolescent behavior.

It was not acceptable when I was growing up in Clearwater, and it should not be acceptable today.

Residents deserve transparency, including how many officers were assigned to the beach.

The staffing short did staffing shortages occur in other parts of the city.

How many calls were delayed, held, or canceled?

I know of at least one that was canceled.

Were citywide response times uh what were the citywide response times during the incidents and what lessons did we learn?

Leadership accountability is also a fair topic to be discussed.

Eve effective organizations review major incidents not to assign blame, but to identify shortcomings and improve future performance, and residents deserve to know whether adequate planning, supervision, command presence, and experience existed that day.

Chief Gandy's absence, unfortunately, most of the most of uh most of the time has uh has also been noticeable by some.

At some point, we must ask whether our system, staffing decisions, leadership structure, and operational planning are producing the results residents and business owners expect.

Significant incidents should be met with honest assessments of what happened, what went wrong, and how similar events will be prevented in the future.

I requested the city council possibly asked the department leadership to provide a comprehensive and after action report detailing the planning, staffing response, resource allocation, and operation decisions surrounding this incident.

The residents like myself and business owners of Clearwater to deserve facts, transparency, accountability, and confidence that Clearwater Beach will remain a safe destination for families, visitors, and the community that calls this home.

And I'm just speaking on behalf of the comments that I've seen in regards to tourism.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Okay.

Any other super public comment?

Okay.

Hearing scene then we'll move to item 10 on the agenda.

That's city manager reports.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to again thank our team.

There's a lot of team members that put a lot of work and effort into making this evening what it was tonight.

And so thank you to them.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

City attorney reports.

Nothing, sir.

Twelve closing comments by council members.

Councilmember Tushad.

I will give you a gift.

None.

Yes, I do have something I wanted to let everybody know.

Um I want to give credit congratulations to assistant city manager Dan Slaughter, who served 30 years in law enforcement, past city chief of police, retired uh in 2023, and will be inducted into Florida's law enforcement hall of fame.

I was like I just like to say that he looks much too young to be in the home.

I was thinking of the congratulations.

Councilman Renito.

Yeah, real quick, not too much.

When I said the thank yous and do jazz hands for staff, I wanted to make sure that Ali and her communications team uh felt that love.

Uh, didn't omit your name.

You were you were part of that stuff.

Allie and your team, thank you.

Uh Vice Mayor.

Yes, sir, thank you.

Um, I'll keep it brief as well in regards to if you didn't see Monday's uh meeting, the teen takeover.

You know, I I'm sure this board uh we've obviously had active discussions.

We've seen the um uh press releases from our police department, but I know that I'm actively engaged with the city manager, the city attorney, and uh the police chief in trying to ensure that our officers have more teeth so that something like this never does happen again.

I think that it's completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated in Florida, much less City of Clearwater.

Um so going forward, I want everybody to know that that is a legitimate concern, and we all take it seriously up here.

Um lastly, thank you all again for being here, and uh, hope you have a great weekend.

Thank you.

Um I really don't have much to share, but I do want to touch on the gentleman who was here.

Um made some comments that I don't agree with.

Uh one is uh I I can tell you uh in addition to tonight, uh all of our staff, including our police officers, uh just helping assist and make sure everybody kind of you know kept motions in check and everybody stayed in order, appreciate them so much.

But uh I can't tell you how, and I had somebody in law enforcement today uh tell me who had served in the state of Indiana in two different law enforcement positions.

Uh they were so complimentary of our police department the way they handled that entire situation.

I said it in a statement on Monday.

Um, but uh I was out there in the beach by the pier about two hours before that happened.

Um, police were in control of the beach the entire time.

Yes, they knew about it, but you don't realize how most people don't realize how hard it is to keep that beach safe.

They we have we have one of the most popular beaches in the country.

Uh they they do their best to try to keep track of who's coming and uh discouraged, and they have discouraged a number of these.

The gentleman here act like we're not trying.

We do try, and we do discourage a lot of them.

But I can't tell you how well handled our city is, and particularly Clearwater Beach is because of the outstanding service of our police department.

So they uh not just on Sunday, and they were all over it, but every day.

And um, and I I made a statement on I don't know what day it was, but um, you know, I've I was out there on the beach today for a junior lifeguard program.

We got our youngest kids in the city, the youngest groups going through the junior lifeguard program.

There it's a little bit of a mentoring, but they do some skills for them, and um these kids are out there on the beach, and the beach is full of families.

We have one of the safest beaches in the world.

Uh, not just and it was safe on Sunday, chaotic, an unfortunate incident, but it was safe.

It was safe today, it'll be safe tomorrow.

And a large part of that is because of the outstanding work of our police department.

So thank you for what you did on Sunday, and thank you for all you do going forward to keep Clearwater Beach one of the safest places in the world for families to visit.

And uh, we appreciate you and what you do to help our community succeed and our tourism communities succeed.

So, with that, I don't think I have anything else to announce.

We will adjourn the June 4, 2026 meeting of the Clearwater City Council.