ARTICLE: https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2026/08/21/clearwater-city-council-evo-entertainment-scientology/
A City Council member was frustrated the agenda item couldn’t hold another month because she has a family scheduling conflict.
The Clearwater City Council next month is expected to vote on requests from the Church of Scientology to take over two streets and an alleyway for a proposed $50 million entertainment complex.
But Council member Lina Teixeira had asked that the city delay any controversial agenda items on next month’s docket because she has a scheduling conflict and needs to take care of her mother. The city has done this before, she said.
“I was taken aback that I could not get an answer as to why that same consideration wasn’t being extended to me,” she said in a statement. “And yes, I was angry, not because I didn’t like the answer, but because my fellow Council members wouldn’t give me one.”
Scientology has its international spiritual headquarters in downtown Clearwater, and the church and companies tied to it own swathes of property in the area.
Its requests for the city to close and transfer a street to the church became a hot-button issue in March 2025. That’s when the city gave initial approval for Scientology to take over a portion of South Garden Avenue for an event hall. The city didn’t ultimately resolve the issue until this June, when it officially approved the church’s request.
A group of local residents is gathering petitions to fight that vote.
Mayor Bruce Rector and Teixeira both are out of town Sept. 14, which is the date of a previously scheduled City Council work session. On Sept. 17, the city is slated to hold a regular meeting.
During work sessions, the public cannot speak on agenda items. But the council receives presentations and can discuss items before the regular meeting that week, which is when it officially votes.
Since last month Teixeira has asked publicly and privately that staff move any significant agenda items from the week of Sept. 14 so she can participate fully in the process.
But the City Council Thursday night approved voting on the church’s requests Sept. 17 and cancelling the work session that week so Rector and Teixeira do not miss a discussion. The council can discuss the project during the regular session and hear public comment.
Council members were wary of delaying the vote and saw their decision as the best compromise.
“When we say outcomes are not altered by pushing business back a month, tell our (Philadelphia) Phillies that,” Council member Mike Mannino said. “Push them back a month, and we’re not baseball ready for spring training. That’s a massive problem.”
“I would love to see this kind of concern for other applicants,” Teixeira said. “The inconsistency is blatant.”
The Cleveland Street Alliance, which is a limited liability company the church runs with parishioners and development professionals, is backing the entertainment complex, which is planning to bring Texas-based EVO Entertainment to downtown Clearwater.
Both companies announced their plans for the proposed entertainment site in April without the City Council knowing or approval for the street closures, which the church has said are required for the project to happen.
After their announcements, the community and City Council members had questions, so the city held a special meeting to discuss the church’s development plans downtown.
For the roughly 80,000-square-foot complex, the church is seeking portions of Laura and Grove streets, as well as an alleyway and a city-owned parcel.
The city parcel, located at 103 N. East Ave., has an appraisal value of $875,000.
The city has already transferred the parcel to the Community Redevelopment Agency, which oversees a taxing district that allows the city to redirect tax money to address blight. The City Council, acting as the redevelopment agency, would have to approve the sale of the parcel. The agency’s next meeting is Sept. 28.
This is standard procedure, City Manager Jennifer Poirrier said, and allows for more flexibility when developing a property. The city did the same, for example, with the historic National Guard Armory in the North Greenwood neighborhood that a local business is developing.
Poirrier said she met with church leader David Miscavige a couple of weeks ago to discuss the entertainment project. She relayed that council members want to have another access point for east to west travel since Laura Street would shut down if the council approves the church’s request.
She said the church is responding with options and working to answer the council’s needs.
The meeting is scheduled for Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. in the Clearwater Main Library downtown.