The Opelika-Auburn News from Opelika, Alabama • 2

Page A 2 THE OPELIKA AUBURN NEWS Wednesday September 7 1977 Rezoning Recommended or North Hills Addition BY DEBBIE PRICE felt the he BY ANN PEARSON said is of Property Tax Proposed emphasis on Gonged Opelika Roads' Status Reported BY DEBBIE PRICE he Tornado Blamed On Babe mayor explained checking into the MANY ON HAND for the final night felt like Ann and Joe annin of Opelika who called themselves fairly regular customers that they would miss the place because it offered entertainment along with the comfort of own car and a variety of refreshments I did discover one viewer however who was on his first visit to the theatre and know it was closing A short acquaintance indeed with the drive in! Charlie Monroe of Opelika on the Martin payroll on and off for 30 years and a steady employe at this theatre for the past year said teenagers in particular would miss the facility and that business this summer when the theatre has been open nightly with this year That system $27000 BUT THE BIG Story out of election was the apparent banishment of PHIL ADAMS repre senting Thomas Gray and Builders Construction Company Inc explained that Gray only proposed to build nine quadra plex units on a 16 acre area Adams pointed out that Gray still owned much of the surrounding property "I just think Mr Gray would build units that I understand it these apartments will rent for about $200 a month and will try to attract perma nent residents" remarked Adams He also said Gray and surveyor David Miller and he would be glad to answer any questions about the quadra plexes By The Associated Press Tropical depression Babe spawned a tornado at Tuscaloosa and flooding rains at Birmingham and was blamed for a traffic fatality at Bessemer Dozens of people were evacuated from homes and house trailers In lowlying sections at Birmingham CHAMBERS ASKED the commissioners about the possibility of getting some sidewalks on Samford Avenue between Betts' store and the high school Snow's study also stated "It is doubtful these residential subdivisions (referring to the North Hills area) could have been developed as they have been if first there has been erected apartment houses on Area No that apart After over 25 years of service to thousands of customers in the area the Auburn Opelika Drive In closed Labor Day night Sept 5 Martin Theatres has sold the property and must vacate the premises by Sept 15 Replacing the 400 car movie lot will be a Restaurant for sure and there are rumors of a barbecue place and a hamburger stand There will be no drive in built to replace the Martin facility with the nearest ones now in Shawmut and Phenix City ALTHOUGH MANY in dividual residents spoke out at the hearing Bob Petty a member and the attorney for the Northside Community Action Group did most of the talking Petty argued that the Northside group felt there was a legal right to rezone the area and that it was not spot zoning AND TO ADD to its money problems this year the board must come up with about $65000 in raises because while the state funding will take care of the raises mandated by the buildings "We have a lot of children that walk to school that said Chambers hate to see any get Commissioners said they would check into the matter but explained that the area in question was state right of way "Since dealing with state right of way not sure if we can do that" said McCullough just have to check" Planning Commission members that multi family units would overcrowd the area create traffic pro blems and perhaps endan ger the welfare of the community IN A STRAW VOTE on whether to retain a soft drink tax which brings in about $100000 a year the vote was 2582 to 1320 in favor of removing the tax Only half of the voters who participated in the mayor's balloting voted in the soft drink referendum That vote brought quick action however as Mayor Roberts made a motion at this City Com mission meeting to rescind the tax effective Dec 31 The motion carried a load of dirt there An Orchard Avenue resident questioned the Commissioners about a work date for Orchard Avenue The Commission told him bids were let Aug 24 and that work should begin as soon as the materials came in "One of the biggest delays in the Orchard Avenue work was that the cost estimates were twice feature changes twice a week has been much better than last year The drive in over the past few years has been doing rather well according to the lady at the ticket window and the Tuesday dollar night traffic had picked up recently Though she said about as many grownups as teenagers turned up it was the teenagers who offered the diversions by trying to sneak in buddies in the back seat and other adolescent pranks SHE SAID BUSINESS was slow at the first of the week and then picked up on riday Saturday and Sunday nights the only three nights the theatre stayed open during the winter months The concession stand usually does a booming business according to Pam Hood with pizza added a few years ago and the standard popcorn the big favorite She also added that the frequent rated movies are what seem to have brought the customers out PG and rated films such as Disney pictures though they do well at the Martin owned Plaza do well at the drive in movies manager Vinson said been shown there in several years but on the last night two rated films the gory supernatural film with Piper Laurie and something called "House of were pulling in the customers coincidentally is set in a drive in in the fifties a fact the projectionist even know since he says he rarely watches what he runs He said with a grin he might look more if some rated features were shown HE ALSO CLAIMED he would run a film even in the pouring rain or if only one car showed up As long as there was one customer he ran the reels He and Monroe remember all the Tall" movies as being big drawers and Vinson said one of the best ever at the box office has been Good the Bad and the with Clint Eastwood The staff who are all part time except Vinson will be going various ways after closing The projectionist and ticket sel ler a husband and wife said going to catch up on fishing and sewing respectively Vinson will keep busy as ever managing The Plaza and War Eagle And where will all those customers go? I suppose to Shawmut and Phenix City I myself being lazy will probably eat a few meals at and stick to the four local indoor theatres Petty presented a study from Dr Samuel Snow a land planning consultant contracted by the North side group report stated if such multi family units were built where Gray proposed problems of overcrowding increased and dangerous traffic flow water run off onto neigh boring property and the lack of parking would be probable a music man to split his time between instrumental instruction at the junior and senior highs A half time assistant principal has also been added at Boykin and the junior high schools one of the recom mendations of the Com mittee of It was like a victory celebration Tuesday night in the City Commission chambers as the Opelika Planning Commission vot ed to recommend rezonlng the fourth addition of the North Hills Subdivision at the southwest comer of Morris Avenue and Rocky Brook Road A 3 2 vote to recommend rezoning to the Opelika City Commission was greeted with a roar of applause and cheers by some 150 Opelika residents who attended the public hearing The residents were members of the Northside Community Ac tion Group which oppose the building of multi family living units at the corner of Morris Avenue and Rocky Brook Road The planning board recommended the area be rezoned from multi family units to single family housing The proposed multi fa mily units called quadra plexes are proposed for construction by Builders Development Company Inc The developer of the property in question Thomas Gray at Birmingham Tuscaloosa had 466 Cen treville 313 and Huntsville and Decatur 269 The water flooded streets at Birmingham and left them covered with heavy coats of mud Barricades were put up on several roads for safety reasons The evacuations oc curred at Roebuck Pratt City Ensley Tarrant City and Bessemer BUT RIGHT NOW Cleveland is worried about deficit financing If the council by passes an im mediate temporary sales tax for the city the school board will simply have to go hat in hand back to the city council as it has done for years and the proposed city budget allows only $435000 for schools only $13000 more than the schools received last year and the board expects utility bills alone to rise by $20000 Taking the bull by the problems but that some thing did need to be done need easements on Windtown said McCullough now we even know who owns the land But only one car can go down it at a time "Something needs to be done but it is going to take some said The after alley behind the Bethsada Baptist Church as request ed he felt it was not "public enough for the city to pave" He continued to say that the city would be glad to work with residents adjoining the alley in working out some type of assessment arrangements A flash flood warning was posted for Jefferson Blount and Cullman counties early today but waters began receding shortly after daybreak Mrs Mary Barnhill 38 Adger Ala was killed at Bessemer late Tuesday when she apparently became blinded by a driving rain and swerved her car to the wrong side of a road into another car rank Roberts from a political scene on which he has been a prominent player for 10 years Ro berts ran for Phenix City Commission three con secutive years before he finally won a seat in 1972 His election was one of the factors that prompted a legislative act that changed the form of government and brought about another election in 1973 But Roberts upset the plan by running for mayor and winning without a runoff against two majdr opponents one of them being James Baker who is now the state repre sentative from Phenix City He emerged as a strong er force than ever in the government and began his often stormy debates with fellow commissioners George Ivy and John Anthony Anthony died early last year The new face of Phenix City politics is less clear because Chard and Parker have no previous record of political activity Chard asked his ideas about city government Tuesday night recited some of com ments on the governing of cities which prompted one bystander to ask: "When was that guy Aristotle the Parker who operates a picture framing shop and has real estate interests is related to several longtime Phenix City families and thus has more connections with past political regimes Adams argued proposed ments would be in keeping with the fine subdivision Gray had developed in that area which could be a handicap He was supported edit orially by both daily newspapers in Columbus ALBERT CHAMBERS who inquired about the alley at the last meeting asked that the city just put some dirt there McCul because of rising waters lough said that there would The Weather Service be no problem with putting said 501 inches of rain fell SEVEN MEMBERS the Planning Commission were present for the hearing which lasted some two hours listening to the arguments of attorneys representing the two oppos ing groups and to com ments from individual citizens The Northside Commu nity Action Group request ed that its areas Area No 1 on the zoning maps be rezoned to be completely single family residences Part of this area is presently zoned for multi family dwellings The Planning Commis sion's recommendation to rezone the area will go before the Opelika City Commission at a public hearing scheduled in Com mission Chambers Monday Sept 12 at 7 pm The power to zone and rezone rests solely with the City Commission Voting for the recom mendation to rezone were Planning Commission members Copeland Dr Bill Whatley and Bob Taylor Giving votes were CS Whittel sey and Planning Commis sion president Baker Dean Planning Commission members Guy Thompson and Bobby McCullough who are also city commis sioners abstained from voting since they will be considering the matter Sept 12 horns this summer the board hired certified libra rians for the elementary schools the last step in a several years process to ward accreditation that would have had to begin again had that criterion not been met cost the extra Putting basic education the board also hired an extra elemen tary school teacher to bring the in class teacher pupil ration to about 25 1 Cleveland said and added (Continued rom Page A l) to get 20 per of that one cent sales tax the finance commit tee has estimated that based on $2 million income the schools would receive the $400000 the ad hoc committee says the system needs above what it is now getting from the council If both measures were to pass Auburn Schools would reap $800000 or more yearly AND HOW WAS the last night at the old entertainment place? A little soggy actually After a late afternoon downpour water was still standing in pools by the speaker poles But the damp weather hurting business any A steady stream of cars was coming by the ticket window by 8 pm and the night 'previously the lot was practically full Pam Hood of Notasulga the daughter of Opelika Auburn Martin manager AT Vinson who has been helping her father out with the concession stand in the few weeks before closing said business has been particularly good since word got out the drive in was soon to close She said some customers claimed they been in 10 years but had come just for a final movie fling in the open air Especially sad to see it close she added was a middleaged couple from Salem who for a long time have been coming every riday or Saturday night no matter what was playing The theatre also has had regular customers from West Point Alex City and Dadeville as high as we had expected" commented McCullough "As it turns out the Water Board will have to do all the work I think you can expect to see some resurfacing about the first part of CHARD COULD RUN into a problem on the ques tion of receiving pay for the parttime job of mayor Like Mayor Don Hayhurst he is employed by the state of Alabama and Hayhurst does not accept pay as mayor because of a state rule that forbids state employees from receiving salaries from more than one state agency However Chard said that he knows of several legislators and city officials who are on school or college faculties one being Rep Monroe Smith of Lanett who is also on the CVCC staff The defeated candidates for mayor tarry long at City Hall Tuesday night and whether they will support either Chard or Parker in a runoff is not known (Continued rom A l) from the field in District One Oswalt a former county commissioner lost a race for reelection in the county in 1976 But he had no problems Tuesday with 1372 votes to 360 for his nearest op ponent Carl Ethridge There will be runoffs in the other two districts Billy Ray Head a young businessman and political newcomer finished first in District Two with 566 votes and faces a runoff against Louise Purvis who had 303 votes our other candidates trailed and three of them have already endorsed Mrs Purvis in the runoff In District Three which has a large black popu lation and where five black candidates and one white were seeking the seat the white candidate Don Cherry came in first with 517 votes while Phenix longtime black political leader Aus tin Sumbry was second at 466 edging out the four younger black candidates Sumbry finished first last summer in a 13 candidate special election to fill the commission seat of the late John Anthony but Roberts and Ivy eventually ap pointed Nevels to the unexpired term Nevels had come In second and no candidate had anything close to a majority state legislature for those teachers allotted under the minimum program Au burn hires many additional teachers with local funds and must give those comparable raises too Passing an ad valorem tax will take 18 months to two years Cleveland esti mated Since the tax would require a constitutional amendment it would have to pass both a statewide and a local vote which could be done concurrently or in separate elections THE LAST PICTURE SHOW It was the "last picture show" Monday night as the Auburn Opelika Drive In closed its gates after a 25 year history in the area The film shown was not Peter Last Picture Show" although it was the "last show" to be seen before the drive in closed its gates for the final time The film shown Monday incidentally was starring Piper Photo by Rick Helmke SPEAKING OUT Elmer Lazenby 1008 Morris Ave was one of the many residents who spoke out Tuesday night at a public hearing concerning the rezoning of Area No 1 (North Hills Subdivision Morris Avenue and Rocky Brook Road area) to single family residences Lazenby one of the 150 persons attending the hearing "Changing situations are enough to constitute rezon stated Petty cases back this up The character of the land was changed in this area since it was zoned for multi fa mily units Zoning should be consistent with the land pattern of the area and this area is made up of single family residences" Petty also lives in the area The land in question was zoned multi family in 1969 when only a handful of residents pointed out to The land in question was zoned multi family in 1969 when only a handful of residents lived in the area Petty also pointed out to No More Drive In After 25 Years Drive In Closed Its Gates And Left Only Memories Public works again was the main topic of discussion at the meeting of the Opelika City Commission as it has been throughout the summer Mayor Bobby McCul lough gave a report on the status of several roads throughout the city These areas were asked about by citizens at past City Commission meetings but at the time McCullough did not know the status of the roads as to whether or not they would be paved checked on Montgo mery Street Windtown Road and the alley behind the Bethsada Baptist said McCullough "As soon as we get the money and the right of way on Montgomery be ready to repave it" IN REERENCE to Windtown McCullough ex plained there were some told the Opelika Planning Commission building of quadra plexes in the area would the neighborhood Lazenby was once himself a member of the Opelika Planning Commission in years past The Planning Commission voted 3 2 to recommend the rezoning Photo by Debbie Price would hurt the value of his own Adams SORRPa 2 aNlf Mi llwt if Hr sail I IHlIli JyEkh rail III I II I QSHHB HKI dhi Ay 2.