The Albemarle County Planning Commission voted 4-3 to recommend approval of zoning plans for the new 12-screen Great Escapes movie theater last week.
Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the main sources of discrepancy were the path of a through-road that would constrict the theater, and the height of the walls behind the structure.
The representative for local developer Wendell Wood, Scott Collins, argued that the path of the through-road would obstruct development of the theater, while the board requested that height of the walls behind the theater, currently set for 20 feet, be reconsidered to make them more friendly to passersby.
The end result leaves the developers free to plan and the application to advance to the Board of Supervisors instead of being held up over these discrepancies.
The theater’s developers are hopeful that it could be completed and ready for business in the Hollymead Town Center by Thanksgiving 2011. Construction would have to start by February at the latest to meet that goal.