Scientology - Clearwater USA

Clearwater will impose fines on the Church of Scientology if it doesn't finish

exterior work on its downtown center in 180 days.

Finish your church, Scientologists told

CLEARWATER - The Church of Scientology has 180 days to complete work on the exterior of its new showpiece religious center downtown or face city fines of $250 a day.

The ultimatum, levied by Clearwater's Municipal Code Enforcement Board on Wednesday, accompanied a board decision that the church violated city codes in letting its construction permits expire 16 months ago.

"This was a move to get them to commit to an actual completion date, and if they don't, the code board has assessed them a fine that would kick in," said Clearwater building official Kevin Garriott.

The board set a September deadline for the church to restart the construction on its multimillion-dollar, Mediterranean-style building after weeks of negotiations between the church and the city.

Work on the project began in 2000, but progress stopped three years later as church officials worked on the design of the building's elaborate interior, church officials said. Exterior building permits expired soon thereafter, in November 2004.

The board's decision, though it could bring a hefty fine, may sound more significant than it actually is.

Work on the inside of the empty 380,000-square-foot structure does not need to be completed as part of the code board's findings. The church also can keep a large hole open on the north side of the building, about one floor up, as long as the church has applied to begin the interior construction, city officials said.

The church needs the opening to haul in construction equipment, it said Tuesday.

Garriott also said the church already has completed most of the work necessary to meet the city's code. It must still make some minor improvements to the landscaping and sidewalks surrounding the building, Garriott said. The building must pass a city inspection.

"It's definitely not a problem for us. This is a little glitch," said Ben Shaw, a church spokesman. "We're right now full bore on completing our planning and design and should be in construction mode later this year. We're going to build a beautiful building there."

Shaw said church officials had attempted to work with city leaders to avoid a code enforcement hearing. The two sides even debated the type of grass the church would plant, temporarily, around the outside of the building, as well as the location and amount of fencing that would surround the construction site, Shaw said.

He thinks the issues have been resolved.

Now it's a matter or reapplying for the permit and passing an inspection.

"The permits, no question, they need to be reapplied for," Shaw said.

City officials received complaints in January about the church property, which has sat vacant and idle in the three years since work was stopped:

A construction fence was bent and propped up with sandbags and cinder blocks.

Grass was dead or overgrown.

And litter lined the property

Church officials started making landscaping improvements - planting trees and laying sod - after the city relayed its concerns.

"It was really in bad shape," said Jeff Kronschnabl, Clearwater's director of development and neighborhood services.

The city needed to do something, Kronschnabl said, because the city was unsure how long the project remain unfinished.

Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 445-4160 or asharockman@sptimes.com

[Source http://www.sptimes.com - Last modified March 23, 2006, 02:15:42]