The Valley Signal

Growth & Land Use

The Spud Drive-In Cleared Every Vote. Its Sewer Letter Expired First.

Four years after a windstorm downed its screen, the Spud Drive-In still can't reopen. No county body opposed it; the Driggs sewer letter it needs lapsed.

By Wade Williams · ·

DRIGGS — No county or city body has voted against rebuilding the Spud Drive-In. Four years after a windstorm took down its screen, the theater still can't reopen. The rebuild is stalled by a sewer commitment that expired before its owners could use it.

MD Spud LLC, an entity run by the principals of the nearby landscaping business, bought the shuttered drive-in in August 2023 and moved fast. Within four months it asked Driggs to guarantee sewer service to the property, and by February 2024 the city had agreed. But Teton County's code did not recognize drive-in theaters. Before the owners could rebuild, they first had to get the county to write the use into its code, and that took longer than the two years their sewer letter was good for.

The most recent stop came August 18, when the Driggs City Council took up a request to extend the sewer commitment the project needs. Public Works Director Jay Mazalewski recommended granting it, and reported that the City of Victor had been consulted and did not object. Neither of the two motions in the packet reached a vote. Councilor Sarah Johnston recused herself, Council President Allison Michalski was absent, and the two remaining members could not establish whether they were enough to act.

spud drive in rendering

The county had no code for a drive-in

The Spud opened on Highway 33 in the 1950s and ran until 2022, when a windstorm destroyed its screen tower. The parcel is non-conforming and grandfathered, a status the drive-in theater code the county adopted in April was written to resolve. Before that ordinance, the county's Land Development Code (LDC) had no category for a drive-in theater at all.

Tom Hedges appeared before the Teton County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) on October 27, 2025 to pitch code amendments. He argued the LDC "is over restrictive" and, as an example, that it "does not allow for the rebuilding of the Spud Drive-in theater," according to the meeting minutes. Planning Administrator Joshua Chase put the question to the board as "whether the requests should be part of a broader amending of the LDC or if they should be applied for by individuals."

The board sent it back to the applicant. At the Teton County Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) hearing on February 10, Commissioner Tom Braun asked whether the applicant or the county had requested the review process. Chase answered that "the BoCC wanted to see the change made for the applicant and it was felt that the applicant should request the change."

The commission recommended the amendment 4-0, adding a requirement that drive-ins obtain a special use permit (SUP) and replacing the lighter limited-use permit the application had proposed. Braun voted for it after saying he "was not ready to move the application forward at this point." The BOCC adopted the ordinance 3-0 on April 27. The only public comment at either county hearing came from Mike Merigliano, who spoke neutrally in March, and Niki Richards, who spoke in favor both times.

A standard the owners cannot meet alone

MD Spud LLC applied for the special use permit on June 25 through Harmony Design & Engineering. The application describes a 55.5-foot screen tower, about 148 drive-in stalls, a restaurant and concession building of about 3,300 square feet, and the ten-site campground the county first permitted in 2017 and modified 7-0 in December 2024.

The use the county created carries a standard the owners cannot satisfy by themselves. LDC § 3-6-7(B)(b) requires "connection to, and service from, a public wastewater treatment facility owned and controlled by a municipality or a public utility provider." The nearest municipal plant is Driggs. The property sits outside the Driggs city limits and outside the city's area of impact.

The owners lined up that connection early. In December 2023, months after buying the property, they applied to Driggs for a will-serve letter, and on February 6, 2024, the council approved it, capping service at 13.5 equivalent residential units (ERUs); the signed letter issued that August. Victor, whose consent was required, agreed with conditions. The approval carried a two-year clock: it would lapse unless a sewer connection was applied for and approved by February 2026.

Harmony applied to connect to the Driggs system in October 2024 and received the city's comments the following March. Then the connection stalled. Nothing in the county or city record places the Spud before either body between March and October of 2025; the county staff report says the project "was put on hold while the owner worked through the permitting and code amendment process." The will-serve expired on February 6, 2026, the connection still unapproved.

The commission moved anyway

County planning staff recommended that the commission continue the August 11 hearing until the owners provided details on special events, which the application had requested without a numerical cap. Staff's own draft conditions left the operative figures blank: events per year, consecutive days, attendance, and the threshold that would trigger a traffic plan.

The commission recommended approval instead, with no commissioner opposed, and sent the definition of a special event back to staff and the applicant. On the wastewater standard, the staff report records the status as "pending approval," carried as a condition of any permit the BOCC grants.

August 18

Mazalewski's staff report gave the council two motions. The first would extend the 2024 letter to a new expiration of February 6, 2028. The second would deny the request "as the subject property is outside the city limits and area of impact boundaries."

Johnston recused herself when the item was called. Mayor August Christensen said her understanding was that "a quorum for City Council, no matter what, is three, and not two." Johnston said recusals do not affect quorum. The city attorney said he could not resolve it without research. The item was pushed to the end of the agenda, where staff read Idaho Code § 50-705, which provides that a question before a council is decided by a majority of members present, and suggested Johnston abstain instead of recusing. Johnston offered to do so.

The attorney did not change his advice. "I cannot find a clear answer that would say that we can preserve a quorum to act on an action item if Council Member Johnston recuses herself and we're left with 2 to vote," he said. "I would just prefer that we not do this wrong."

Christensen tabled the item herself, without a motion or a vote. "I am going to make the decision to table this item until we have a quorum that can vote on this item," she said.

What to watch

The Driggs council's next regular meeting is September 1. No date has been set for the BOCC hearing that will decide the special use permit, and the county cannot issue one until the wastewater condition is satisfied.

The screen has been down since 2022. The letter that would let the rebuild connect expired in February, and on August 18 the council could not seat enough members to renew it.

Sources

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