8/25/2011 7:41 PM

A board of volunteers in Clearwater, Florida presented the Church of Scientology with $413,500 of unpaid fines tied to the long-delayed construction of the organization’s “Super Power” building. Since 2006, the city has fined the church $250 per day for letting its 7-story building crumble into disrepair during 12 years of construction.

The building was finally finished in June, at which point the fines were assessed and issued to the church. The church, however, asked the city to reduce the fine by 90%, to reflect its “good faith” effort to bring the building up to code. That request went to the city’s resident-led Code Enforcement board, where members unanimously voted to keep the fines as is, saying that the church had long-ignored the rules in the city.

“The board’s order was not taken seriously. That really bothers me,” said member Sheila Cole.

The church can appeal within 30 days, and spokeswoman for the church Pat Harney said the church would “consider its options.”

In 2006, city officials complained that the neglected project had become overrun with weeds and littered with debris, but one of the church’s attorneys said that changes in the city’ building codes, along with the church’s unique plans, made delays inevitable.

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Categories: News Posted by Jena on 8/25/2011 7:41 PM | Comments (0)

 

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