Owner of Brain Freeze Frozen Yogurt Wants to Turn Vacant Lot into Drive-In Movie Theater

A Rohnert Park small business owner wants to turn a vacant lot adjacent to his store on Padre Parkway and City Center Drive into a free outdoor movie theater on Friday nights from June through September.

Jeff Schach, the owner of , tonight is asking the Planning Commission to OK a conditional use permit for the proposed event. Rohnert Park's planning and building manager, Marilyn Ponton, has recommended an approval the commission approve the project.

Under the proposal, the drive-in would provide parking for 50 cars in the rear of the nearly one-acre lot, and two rows of seating up front for approximately 200 people, according to the Ponton. People would be able to bring blankets or chairs to sit on. In addition, there would be hay bales separating the outside seating area from the drive-in area that people could also sit on.

The movies would begin at about 8:30 p.m., after the Friday Night Farmers Market, and end around 10 p.m. 

In the proposal, Ponton noted concern about area residents being disturbed by the level of noise from the theater's speaker system, such as the condos on City Center Drive, but she called the potential impact minor — lasting just two hours on Friday nights during the summer months.

Ponton presented one alternative to the noise level: "Installing an FM transmitter that will transmit the sound from the film so that patrons in their cars can tune it in on the FM radios in their cars. The volume on the outdoor speakers could be reduced since it would only be required for the patrons sitting in the front viewing area."

The outdoor theater would also have portable bathrooms, garbage and recycling bins, and nonprofits or charitable groups to sell popcorn, candy and soft drinks, the proposal stated.

What do you think? Should the city allow an outdoor summer theater? Stay tuned to Rohnert Park Patch for a follow-up on what the commission decides.