Tampa
Tribune
4/21/92
Scientologists cited for crowded living conditions
by Abdon M. Pallasch
CLEARWATER -
The Church of Scientology has been cited for crowding too many people
into its Hacienda Gardens apartments on North Saturn Avenue, city
documents show.
Church officials blame the problem on renovation work. They've
asked the city for permission to have the complex treated like a
dormitory or boarding house, but city officials say they have to meet
traditional apartment standards.
In
some cases, the church has converted dining rooms or livings rooms into
bedrooms to make two-bedroom apartments from what were one-bedroom
apartments. Two sets of bunk beds were placed in the bedroom and
the converted bedroom, said city code analyst Kevin Garrett.
That
allows eight people to live in an apartment the city says is suited for
only seven. The worst case was one in which 10 people were living
in an apartment that should have housed only seven, Garrett said.
The
city requires 150 square feet of living space for the first resident of
an apartment and 100 square feet for each additional resident.
Many of the apartments at the 551 N. Saturn Ave. complex are in the
800-square-foot range.
Some
apartments also were cited for inadequate bathroom exhaust systems and
deteriorating staircases, said city building inspector William Phillips.
Though some of the 34 over-crowded apartments reminded him of "army
barracks," Phillips said, most of the 200 apartments met city code.
Church spokesman Richard Haworth blamed the overcrowding on one of the
buildings being cleared out for renovations.
"Those people have to go somewhere," Haworth said.
Haworth lives at the complex in a room he shares just with his family,
he said.
"I think it's great," Haworth said of the complex.
"When we get done with the renovations out there, it's going to be
gorgeous."
City
officials first cited the church for overcrowding at the complex in 1986
when firefighters responded to a blaze there.
Church officials in the past have denied allegations by former church
members who have told of overcrowded conditions at Hacienda Gardens.
"We want to be able to use our properties to the fullest,"
Haworth said. "If this is a significant problem, I'd be
worried about it, but it's not."
Phillips first discovered overcrowding at the complex Jan. 15. He
began inspecting apartments every Monday for about two months until he
had seen all 200, he said.
In
February, church officials asked the city for permission to be treated
like a dormitory or a boarding house instead of a conventional apartment
complex, Garrett said. The units all have kitchen facilities that
go largely unused because most of the workers eat at the downtown
cafeterias.
But
city officials said the church would have to have an institution of
higher learning attached to the complex to qualify for dormitory or
boarding house status, said city planner Steve Doherty.
As
long as church officials transfer people out of the overcrowded rooms by
May 26, there will be no fines or penalties, Phillips said. Church
officials have said they will comply.
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