In my meeting with the planning director and the building inspector several weeks ago, they mentioned the possibility of a "paving requirement" to cover the entire parking area of the theatre with asphalt. The cost to undertake such a task would be highly cost prohibitive, since it would cost more to pave the entire place as it would to build the theatre. The planning director and building inspector said if I could present them with some facts as to why the entire parking area of the theatre should not be paved, then they would consider the exception. They said the reason for the exception could not be based upon cost alone, but more of a "drive-in specific" related issue.

I know many drive-in's do in-fact have their entire lot paved, but most of the theatre's in Tennessee however feature grass-covered ramps. The grass-covered ramps create more of a park-like setting, are more cost-efficient to maintain, lesson the alteration of the existing land, and lesson the amount of water run-off to adjacent properties.

Can you guys give me any more reasons that are "drive-in specific" that I can use in my meeting the with Board of Zoning Appeals?

Here is the wording from the county code book regarding the paving requirements:

Section 3.50 Off Street Parking Requirements-3.50.03 E .Paving- All areas devoted to off-street parking and access drives, as required under this section, shall be of a sealed surface construction of plant mix asphalt or concrete construction. A 6” x 12” curbing shall be installed on all off-street parking areas. This requirement shall not apply to farming, single family, two family uses or places of worship not located on arterial thoroughfares, as designated by the County Major Thoroughfare Plan.

So far, I've come up with the following:

The existing “Entrance Lane” and the existing “Exit Lane” will be re-paved, and the existing travel lanes between the parking ramps will be either paved or surfaced with a Double Bituminous Surface Treatment (DBST) to reduce the possibilities of dusting. The existing parking ramps will remain unpaved to reduce the amount of storm water run-off shed to adjacent properties, reduce the amount of radiant heat to ensure the patron’s comfort level, and to permit the proper operation and use of the AM radio transmitting radiating cables.

Any more suggestions???

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Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)

This requirement shall not apply to farming, single family, two family uses or places of worship not located on arterial thoroughfares, as designated by the County Major Thoroughfare Plan.

Is the drive-in located on an arterial thoroughfare? If not maybe you can convince a local church to hold special worship sessions for the public at the drive-in on sunday mornings or any other daytime church related activities. This would put the drive-in in a place of worship situation there fore not having to be paved.

Seriously, I think one of your best arguments is going to be that grass is safer for kids and will act as a natural way to slow down traffic. Falling down on grass doesn't hurt as much as falling on a hard surface like asphalt.

There are a few reasons for asphalt. 1. Mud. Mudholes are hell. Growing up in Vermont, where frost leaves huge potholes, this would be my major reason for paving. 2. Dust. Dust can be reduced with treatments, as you suggest. (Although the odor will cut per-caps.) 3. Ruts. Large ruts are dangerous and a liability. Depending on the soil, the only way to get rid of them may be by adding gravel, which is a different liability.

I'd suggest finding a landscaping place that can act as a consultant, and doing research on which types of grass would hold up to repeated traffic. You might also find a friendly environmental group opposed to paving.
 

A paved lot will break apart and cause trip hazards in the dark, whereas gravel or grass ramps will pose less of a risk if properly maintained.
 

What about the term "parking"? This may be over-simplistic, but isn't a parking lot a place to park your car and leave it there? If these people are to stay in their cars, are they parking? Is that "drive-in specific"? Sometimes with these guys you just have to give them an "out".
 

You may be well advised to spend a few bucks and hire a lawyer who is familiar with land use and zoning in the area. This may save you alot of time and troble in the long run. People often try to save and legal fees by trying to handle these administrative law matters by themselves (and often this is a case of penny-wise but pound foolish) since what you don't know can and will be used against you.
 

Is the property within the town limits or is it in the county?
 

We have since found an old drive-in theatre that has been closed down since the mid 1970's. I've found the owner, negotiated a "conditional" lease with him, and now we are awaiting approval from the various county officials and agencies before we can progress any further.

All of the existing parking ramps are still in place, speaker poles still intact on most of them, the old concessions/projection building still stands, but will be torn down to make way for the new one. The original screen is gone, but the foundations are still in place.

The property is "technically" outside of the city limits, but falls within the "City Master Planning - Growth Zone".

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Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)
 

Adam has a good point about the asphalt breaking up and creating trip hazards. I've seen some drive-ins that are completely paved that are just waiting for a lawsuit. Over time the asphalt has broken up and big chunks are raised which will make it very easy for someone to catch the end of their shoe on them, causing a fall, onto a very hard surface. Drive-ins like that also tend to look unmaintained and could disuade attendance.

I also agree that you are not providing a parking lot in the general sense. You may want to TACTFULLY make the point with the county officials that your business is a MOVIE THEATRE, not a parking lot where people would park, leave their cars unattended until they return, and where comfort is not an issue. Your patrons (who by the way are their tax payers and the people they serve, but again be tactful) will likely appreciate spending quality time and (taxable) money in a generally green open space (sort of like a park hint hint) than they would a paved-over lot. This is where you might put to use Jerry's idea about getting the support of a local environmental group. If you do, however, make sure it is a friendly, well spoken organization who would help your cause, not a group that would handcuff themselves to a guardrail in front of the property and refuse to leave unless they get promises that it won't be paved.

I'm also wondering if there are any local family-oriented organizations that would be willing to provide you with letters of support for a grassy, non-paved field. Not knowing that area, I can't suggest any specific organizations, but I'm thinking of groups that might promote some type of outdoor family activities.

Also, stress that you are attempting to bring an affordable FAMILY entertainment option to the county. In order to do that you must accomodate the needs and comfort of the patrons for hours at a time. That's where the soft grassy surface where they can sit on lawn chairs or lie on blankets comes in, if you plan on having a policy that permits outside seating. It's much easier on the rumps of those people sitting on the ground. Plus, as you mentioned, the grass would be cooler than asphalt during the peak of summer.

I've seen some paved drive-ins that are nicely maintained but in general I think the grassy theatres are more comfortable.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
 

We got broadsided at the hearing by a lady who stood up and talked about us providing a place for teenagers to have sex. She expounded on this for 45 minutes.

Needless to say we didn't get the permit. Theatre still sitting vacant.

"Well I see Mrs. Jones is intimately acquainted with sex in drive-in movie theatres..."
"I heartily recommend that bedrooms be banned in our fine community..."
"The problems with sex within the church are now well documented, should we ban churches as well?..."
"I'm curious why Mr. Jones has so little to add to his wife's commentary..."

Most people with objections to drive-ins manage to go "over-the-top" and leave themselves wide open for rebuttal. Rebuttal comments can kill some of these objections if the board is generally in favor of a project. Board members, being political animals, just need someone to fend off or parry the heat of the ultra-conservatives. To do so on their own would be political suicide, and to have the petitioner get directly involved in such a match would not have a good effect.

That said, provision for ramp men and proper maintaining of order in a drive in is important. The use of off-duty police on Friday and Saturday nights can ease a lot of concerns and make friends. This should be brought up in meetings, but in a way that it doesn't become a requirement for operation on slow nights.

I know how the zoning board meetings can go. At our first attempt to put a drive-in theatre in this county, we were met with 80+/- people in opposition in the court room the day of the meeting.

The small "Missionary Baptist Church" next door to our property brought out everyone they could. The lady across the street claimed all we were going to do was "show X-rated movies, and the drive-in customers would leave the drive-in late at night, cross the highway and try to swim in her pool". The owner of the retirement home (about a 1/2 mile away) said, "the traffic created by the drive-in would hinder the response time of the emergency medical teams from promptly attending to the needs of her residents".

What's kind of scary is.... the guy who bought our first property next door to the church, lives DIRECTLY across the street from our current selected property!!

I did meet with the county building inspector yesterday to file our paperwork for our upcoming zoning hearing on the 19th of April. When I asked her about the "paving requirement", she said... "let's not mention it - only address the issue if they ask".

I left feeling pretty good about the situation, but very confused! So far, the building inspector and the county planning director have been very helpful to our endeavor, and the planning director seems to think that the drive-in will be a "novelty" for the community. This town we're moving to has a thriving "antique district" on the town square, and he said the drive-in should fit in nicely with the history of the town.

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Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)