“13 Stories” haunted house owner Allyn Glover was back before the Coweta County Commission Feb.18 to request that two conditions accompanying his September approval to re-locate his facility to the old Playtex plant off Ga. Highway 16 be removed. The public hearing was conducted, but the vote will not be taken until the March 4 meeting.
Though approved in September, Glover at the Feb. 18 meeting said the new location did not open for Halloween due to the amount of work required.
“When the applicant originally leased the facility, the thought of a multiple season haunted house was a consideration. Now due to the expenses that have occurred to meet code and conditions, the applicant has fast-paced the request to use the facility for a year-round seasonal amusement business,” Planning and Development Director Robert Tolleson said in a recent letter.
The new request asked that previously imposed conditions 8 and 18 be amended.
Condition 8 deals with the hours of operation while condition 18 was added at the September commission meeting to have an off-duty deputy stationed in the area of the adjacent Red Acres subdivision to help mitigate or screen traffic from using the residential area as a point of entry to the rear of the 13 Stories facility.
Sheriff Mike Yeager was contacted and advised that deputies could not deny access to a public road, Tolleson said.
The planning department recommended approval of the two requests.
Though conducting the public hearing on Feb. 18, the commission declined to take a vote on the request. Chairman Bob Blackburn said the vote would be taken at the March 4 meeting when Commissioner Al Smith, in whose district 13 Stories is located, would be in attendance.
Glover last year said he would find another location in Coweta County to hold Horror Hill, the long-running Halloween venue, after the Coweta County Commission said his Ware Road location would have to go due to county zoning changes. Commissioners in September approved a special use permit that would relocate the seasonal venue, now called “13 Stories,” on industrial property on Temple Avenue.
The site approved by commissioners was the site of the old Playtex plant located on 4.6 acres at 320 Temple Avenue. The 54,000 square-foot building is located on property near Ga. Highway 16 that carries an industrial zoning.
Commissioners gave unanimous approval to the request that included a number of conditions. Though zoned for years as an industrial site where three shifts per day can operate, a number of residents from the nearby subdivision asked that the special use permit not be granted for fear that some patrons would use streets in their neighborhood to access the site.
“13 Stories” in September was approved to operate during September, October and the first two weeks of November.
