Clearwater Taps HQ for Fines

AIN · Aug 24, 2011

http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-n...faces-hearing-on-fines-over-new-hq-ar-252622/

CLEARWATER --
The City of Clearwater today will try to tap the Church of Scientology for $451,500 in code enforcement fines, which have accumulated at a rate of $250 a day plus interest for five years.

Church lawyer Ed Armstrong III believes the penalty ought to be one-tenth that much and has sent the city an 11-page memo to support his argument.

The dispute comes at a time when the city is scraping to make ends meet. The church ranks second on a list of uncollected code-violation fines, totaling more than $4.5 million.

At a 3 p.m. public hearing, the Municipal Code Enforcement Board will determine how much the church should pay. The board has a history of forgiving fines once code violators come into compliance.

The bureaucratic dust-up centers on the new world religious center the church has built from the ground up and linked by pedestrian bridge to its old headquarters, the historic Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater.

The new, eight-story structure covers an entire city block, occupies 377,000 square feet, and features towers at the corners.

The church's name for the building is the Flag Mecca.

The code violation fines began accruing in 2006 after the construction project stalled and the city lost patience.

Work on the building started in 1999 but halted in 2004. Critics said the church was out of money, but the church insisted it was doing a redesign to meet changing needs.

After the project sat idle two years, surrounded by a chain link fence and construction debris, the city cited the church for letting its permit lapse and for failing to make required landscaping improvements.

Fines accrued at $250 a day until June 6, when the city issued a certificate of occupancy.

In his memo to the city, church lawyer Armstrong blames the delay on red tape stemming from a new building code and city master plan, and on other construction projects that kept the church busy.

The church has so much construction work under way in Clearwater, Armstrong said, that it has undergone an average of 1.3 city inspections every day for the past five years.

Armstrong maintains that the church resolved the city's complaint April 30, 2007, by completing the shell of the downtown building and installing more than $300,000 worth of landscaping.

The fines should have stopped then, he says, at $45,250.

In 2006, when the construction flap was just heating up, then Assistant City Manager Gerry Brumback appeared to side with the church in an email to city staff.

The church, Brumback said then, "has had its issues but I want us to treat them as we do all others.

"If, in our professional opinion, the code board didn't give them adequate time to comply … then we need to support their effort to get additional time without penalty."

The Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, claims on its website to have 9,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups across 165 nations.

The church has a headquarters in California but says its spiritual center is in Clearwater, where its holdings now include 50 buildings and 2 million square feet of space.

Blueprints for the new Clearwater building are so extensive the city staff uses a dolly to move them around.

The church website says "the top floors of the new building are reserved for 'Super Power,' a service of Scientology counseling services offered nowhere else."

Here are other highlights from the blueprints:

A three-story glass atrium surrounding a grand staircase at the building's main entrance

A main lobby filled with sculptures and audio-visual displays illustrating the principles of Scientology.

A ground-floor chapel, featuring eight stained-glass windows, for weddings and Sunday services.

An underground basement equipped with kitchens and dining spaces capable of accommodating nearly 900 people.

Five banks of elevators transport visitors and staff to the upper floors where church training and other business takes place.

Twenty-two course training rooms large enough to handle 1,800 people at a time.

Three hundred church counseling rooms designed to handle "auditing" sessions for as many as 1,200 people a day.

Offices, a treasury, central files and a bookstore on the second floor.

Course training rooms, auditing rooms and offices on the third and fourth floors.

The "Perceptics Z Series" on the fifth floor, which involves enhancing taste, sight, hearing, motion and smell. The floor also has a "key contributor lounge."

A running track on the sixth floor, holding 459 people and topped by a massive, black, acoustic dome. Also, locker rooms, saunas and "purification rundowns."

A two-story executive "main office" at the top, with a balcony, conference room, kitchenette, private bath and shower.

A "Celebrity/VIP lounge" at one corner of the top floor and a "transition office" at another. One corner is vacant and designated for future use.

Anonymous · Aug 24, 2011

MICHAEL
SENATOR - we're both part of the same hypocrisy. But never think it applies to my family.

GEARY
All right, all right -- some people have to play little games. You play yours. So lets just say that you'll pay me because it is in your interest to pay me. But I want your answer and the money by noon tomorrow. And one more thing: don't you contact me again -- ever. From now on you deal with Turnbull.
(then, to Al)
Open that door son.

[He starts to leave]

MICHAEL
Uh, senator -- you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is this -- nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.

GEARY (laughing)
Good afternoon, gentlemen.

[He opens the door and walks out]

Thomas Anonymous · Sep 7, 2011

This:

Burj Khalifa — The Tallest Building in the World : &lt;&lt;&gt;&gt; http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/

Was Started AFTER and completed BEFORE

This:

The Stupor Power Building --
Scientology must pay Clearwater $413,000 in fines: &lt;&lt;&gt;&gt; http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-n...faces-hearing-on-fines-over-new-hq-ar-252622/

AnonLover · Sep 7, 2011

Nice one this article was... even haz a vid i had missed!

LocalSP · Sep 7, 2011

I knew we should have started a pool.

Anonymous · Oct 6, 2011

/say
RSS Text Size Print Share This
Scientology pays $413,500 in fines to Clearwater: <<>> http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-n...pays-413500-in-fines-to-clearwater-ar-270028/

Anonymous · Oct 6, 2011

I seem to remember that I used to think the superpower building design looked impressive, for some reason. "Big", I suppose.

But now, it looks to me like a horrible, poorly built, anachronistic hotel in need of renovation and remodelling, or demolition.

Anonalong · Oct 27, 2011

Just want to remind, some said the city would back way down. The city didn't back down. Some are skeptical about the White House petition ... I wonder if the White House would be encouraged by the news about (their more powerful colleagues), the Code Enforcement Board in Clearwater, FL?

I would -l-o-v-e- to see: "Obama Inflames FBI Investigation" "The Federal Bureau of Investigation today in Washngton announced that it has reopened, and expanded, its delayed probes into the Church of Scientology, to include various as yet unnamed "influential" law firms associated with the same."

Anonymous · Oct 27, 2011

Anonalong said: ↑

Just want to remind, some said the city would back way down. The city didn't back down. Some are skeptical about the White House petition ... I wonder if the White House would be encouraged by the news about (their more powerful colleagues), the Code Enforcement Board in Clearwater, FL?

I would -l-o-v-e- to see: "Obama Inflames FBI Investigation" "The Federal Bureau of Investigation today in Washngton announced that it has reopened, and expanded, its delayed probes into the Church of Scientology, to include various as yet unnamed "influential" law firms associated with the same."

would this be before or after he has his $39,500 a plate fund raiser dinner hosted by Will "I am not a Scientologist" Will and wifey poo, Jada Freakish Smith?
Sorry for being so skeptical, but after I read who was hosting his fund raiser, I was like "ooooooh boy... this just made chances of this happening a lot thinner" IMO
I am also hoping that Will doesn't discuss Applied Scholastics with the Pres. at some point in thenear future. You know since Will owns the New Village Academy that teaches LRH tech.

Ogsonofgroo · Oct 27, 2011

Anonymous said: ↑

I seem to remember that I used to think the superpower building design looked impressive, for some reason. "Big", I suppose.

But now, it looks to me like a horrible, poorly built, anachronistic hotel in need of renovation and remodelling, or demolition.

Yup, ugly with a 'spare no expense' attitude. Seeing as they regg'd the shit outta the sheeples for twice what it cost to build (or there-abouts) they could have the place gold-plated. What was it LRon said about fixating on buildings/property etc. ?
Looks a bit like a prison........800 rooms?....... oh wait....

AnonLover · Oct 27, 2011

Anonymous said: ↑

would this be before or after he has his $39,500 a plate fund raiser dinner hosted by Will "I am not a Scientologist" Will and wifey poo, Jada Freakish Smith?

I missed that news, we got a thread on it somewhere?

anonymouskwisdg · Oct 27, 2011

AnonLover said: ↑

I missed that news, we got a thread on it somewhere?

http://forums.whyweprotest.net/thre...los-angeles-fundraiser-for-obama-10-24.95211/

xenubarb · Oct 27, 2011

Ogsonofgroo said: ↑

Yup, ugly with a 'spare no expense' attitude. Seeing as they regg'd the shit outta the sheeples for twice what it cost to build (or there-abouts) they could have the place gold-plated. What was it LRon said about fixating on buildings/property etc. ?
Looks a bit like a prison........800 rooms?....... oh wait....

Ron said if they ever got obsessed with real estate, they should blow it all up.

xenubarb · Oct 27, 2011

Anonymous said: ↑

would this be before or after he has his $39,500 a plate fund raiser dinner hosted by Will "I am not a Scientologist" Will and wifey poo, Jada Freakish Smith?
Sorry for being so skeptical, but after I read who was hosting his fund raiser, I was like "ooooooh boy... this just made chances of this happening a lot thinner" IMO
I am also hoping that Will doesn't discuss Applied Scholastics with the Pres. at some point in thenear future. You know since Will owns the New Village Academy that teaches LRH tech.

Yeah, that's fucked up. Kinda like Clinton and Travolta, only they send in the chocolate brother to schmooze the chocolate president.

Log in or Sign up

Clearwater Taps HQ for Fines

AIN Member

Anonymous Member

Thomas Anonymous Member

AnonLover Member

LocalSP Member

Anonymous Member

Anonymous Member

Anonalong Member

Anonymous Member

Ogsonofgroo Member

AnonLover Member

anonymouskwisdg Member

xenubarb Member

xenubarb Member

Share This Page

Customize Theme Colors

Predefined Skins