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WEST VALLEY CITY — Community members are celebrating after a developer withdrew its application to build homes at the site of one of Utah's few remaining drive-in theaters.
The Redwood Drive-in Theatre opened at 3688 S. Redwood Road in 1948, according to its website. For decades, it's also brought residents together for a weekly swap meet. The theater announced last week it plans to expand its schedule to show movies seven evenings a week.
As of this summer, only three other drive-in theaters in the state remain open — Motor Vu Theater in Tooele, Motor Vu Drive-in Theatre and Swap Meet in Riverdale in Weber County, and Echo Drive-In in Roosevelt.
When student and longtime northern Utah resident Luis Garcia last week saw chatter about the theater's potential closure on a Latino community Facebook group, he quickly jumped into action.
"I noticed they were saying like, 'Hey, guys, don't let them close this,'" Garcia recalled.
He remembers visiting the swap meet and theater often as a child with his family, and buying snacks and toys. At the swap meet, his aunt, who had a mobile haircutting business, would trim his hair.
"And it was just always a good time," Garcia said.
The student studying urban ecology recently took a course in how planning commissions work, and he knew how to find more information about the proposal to redevelop the site.
Van Daele Homes, a builder out of California, sought a rezoning to build 299 townhouses, bungalow homes and twin homes, as well as two clubhouses with a pool, sports court and dog park. A masonry wall would've been built along a portion of Redwood Road and the development's northern boundary, according to the proposal.
"And so I took that information, found the application that was submitted," Garcia said, and he wrote a social media post about the issue and encouraged people to reach out to a city official before the planning commission was set to hold a public comment meeting on Wednesday.
Garcia's post on both Facebook and Instagram quickly spread, drawing hundreds to share their experiences at the theater and swap meet and what it means to the community.
"I think getting the word out was super cool, but when I saw everyone sharing their information, like, 'Oh, I love this drive-in,' I knew it wasn't just affecting me or just Latinos," he said.
"I think it's super important to understand the gentrification that's going on within the valley. This Redwood Drive-In and Swap Meet is a staple in our community bringing so much diversity, and for it to be switched from commercial to residential — I understand the effects that it has, bringing more housing provides more opportunities for people to live in — but there are different areas in the community where you can resort to building this residential, medium-density housing elsewhere besides this place," Garcia said.
He noted that about 300 small businesses, many of them minority-owned, rely on the swap meet.
"Some of these people, that's their only way of income, so it's very important to keep that," Garcia said.
Gordon Koen was one of many who shared fond memories of both the theater and swap meet. After his family moved to Utah in the '70s, his mom would take him as she sold, bought and traded secondhand items.
He said his mom never made much money, "but she sure seemed like she had a lot of fun, and so did everybody else."
"Something that's been there that long ought to have a little bit of say, instead of turning it into a housing project that's not going to contribute to the housing epidemic that's in Salt Lake City, as far as the pricing goes," Koen said.
He described the site as "the heart and soul" of West Valley City, as it has united residents from around the valley for so many years.
The day after Garcia's post drew public outcry, Van Daele Homes announced it decided to withdraw its application.
The owner and managers of Redwood Drive-in and Swap Meet did not respond to requests for comment on Friday and Monday.
West Valley City officials confirmed the builder's proposal was withdrawn ahead of the Planning Commission meeting. The proposal had involved Van Daele Homes and the owner of the drive-in, and was not due to the property being condemned by the city or any similar issue, said Sam Johnson, city spokesman.
"While being presented with the opportunity to bring new, innovative and quality housing to West Valley City was an exciting prospect for our company and we looked forward to collaborating with local officials and residents to meet the community's housing needs, we have decided that proceeding further with this opportunity would be inconsistent with our company's values," Van Daele Homes managers said in a statement provided to KSL.com.
The company said it values relationships and the "ability to partner with communities." Due to feedback from residents, swap meet booth operators and others, Van Daele homes decided "to avoid any disruption, economic or otherwise, to the sense of community in West Valley City and are withdrawing our development application effective immediately."
Garcia called the withdrawal "phenomenal for the community voice to be heard" and expressed gratitude it was an "easy process."
He acknowledged that if the proposal had made it further along in the rezoning process, it likely would've been more difficult to stop it.
The experience was a lesson in civics for the student.
"I think community outreach is a big thing. I've learned in school that sometimes minorities don't have a voice, but being able to speak on your concerns, I think, is very important in our communities, so just to keep that up, I think will improve and strain away from gentrification," Garcia said.
