Clearwater’s downtown is at a crossroads—literally and figuratively. A stretch of South Garden Avenue, a public street long maintained by the city, is now at the center of a growing controversy. The Church of Scientology wants to acquire it for private development. A grassroots group wants to transform it into a memorial garden honoring Clearwater’s diverse history.

But here’s the real concern: Instead of letting Clearwater’s citizens and elected council resolve this, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has stepped in—twice—taking the unusual step of siding with Scientology and questioning the city’s ownership of its own street.

Clearwater’s city attorney has made clear: the city owns the road, and it has every legal right to decide its future. Yet Uthmeier—appointed by the governor and with close political ties to donors associated with the church—is injecting Tallahassee politics into a local land use decision.

This isn’t about one religion or one organization. It’s about who controls our community’s future. And right now, Clearwater residents are being sidelined.

We call on the Clearwater City Council to:

• Publicly reaffirm its ownership of South Garden Avenue
• Resist any pressure to give away public land without public accountability
• Commit to a transparent process for any future decisions about downtown land use
• We also call on Attorney General Uthmeier to withdraw from this dispute and respect the boundaries of local governance.

The citizens of Clearwater deserve to shape their own neighborhoods. Not through backdoor deals. Not through special treatment. And certainly not through state-level interference favoring powerful institutions over public interest.

Stand with us to keep public land public—and let Clearwater decide.

Photo: LUIS SANTANA/Tampa Bay Times