TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Theater Gets 2nd Shot At Waiver
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: April 28, 2008
WESLEY CHAPEL - Representatives from Cobb Theatres LLC will have another chance to make their case for a liquor license at hearings in June and July.
The county commission on April 15 delayed consideration of a waiver to allow the cinema developer to sell beer, wine and liquor within 1,000 feet of a church and school. The petition will be heard at the same time as a request for a conditional-use permit for the same purpose.
Dozens of parishioners from Faith Baptist Church spoke against the petition at a meeting April 15. The church is 827.5 feet from the edge of a 16-screen movie theater under construction at The Grove at Wesley Chapel shopping center, 172.5 feet too close to comply with Pasco County's zoning codes unless the county commission makes an exception.
County commissioners appeared to be leaning toward granting the waiver but instead delayed and combined the hearings.
Alabama-based Cobb Theatres plans to sell alcoholic beverages to patrons older than 21 at a mezzanine-level restaurant planned at the multiplex.
Many of the church members said their congregation will be in danger from impaired motorists leaving the theater after drinking alcoholic beverages there. The congregation opposes drinking alcohol in general.
Louis J. Terminello, an attorney for Cobb and Oakley Grove LLC, said that a patron walking from the church to the theater property likely would take another route, which is about a half-mile in distance.
The Grove, an 850,000-square-foot, open-air shopping center, opened in the fall north of County Road 54 and Oakley Boulevard.
Commissioners have granted exemptions to the 1,000-foot buffer. They allowed an Italian restaurant, which no longer is in business, to serve alcohol at Collier Commons in Land O' Lakes in 2005 despite its proximity to Myrtle Lake Baptist Church and Academy at the Lakes school.
The Planning Commission will be the first to hear the proposal at a meeting at 1:30 p.m. June 11 at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road in New Port Richey. The county commission is to consider the advisory panel's recommendation at its July 8 meeting, which also starts at 1:30 p.m. at the government center.
Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)
* Keep it clean
* Respect others
* Don't hate
* Don't use language you wouldn't use with your mom
* Use "Report Inappropriate Comments" link when necessary
* See Member Agreement for details