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  • Haunted Attraction Zoning

    Hey everyone. I have some questions on what everyone's experience is with zoning in different areas for haunts, as I enter into discussions with a local township to try and open a haunt there. The building we are looking at is zoned M-1, which is "commercial/light industrial". I know in many places haunts are in old industrial areas, in old warehouses. But many places you find haunts in strip malls, former roller rinks, malls, etc. I also have seen that some areas have special coding for haunted houses, while others try to bin it as something else. The township I am talking to suggested possibly an "assembly" designation.

    So I'm curious what you have all gone through when starting out in an existing building, what your township/city/municipality had for zoning and business designations that applied to a haunt that is open seasonally, but is in place in a single location year-round.

    Thanks.
    -Eric
    Chief Engineer/Co-Creative Director
    HUSH Haunted Attraction

    sigpic

  • #2
    In our area, since we are not in an incorporated city, we fall under the county zoning. It's important, first, to know who controls zoning in that area.

    After you've got that, you determine the zoning designation of the property you'd like to use. You've obviously already done that. In our case, the land we wanted to use for our trailer haunt was A35, agricultural 35 acres.

    Then, you determine the designation of the activity you want to do. Sounds like you've done that as well. In our case, we were designated as "amusement, outdoor".

    The planning/zoning people will have, probably available somewhere online, a "Primary Use Table" that lists all of the zoning designations, and all of the activity designations. Where these designations meet within the table will be the indication of whether the activity is allowed in the zone. In our case, the indications were either "Not Allowed", "Allowed", "Special Use Permit", or "Temporary Use Permit".

    Our activity in our zone required a "Temporary Use Permit" which normally takes a couple of months to process, so you have to start early. "Special Use Permits" are probably what would be needed to operate a specific activity on a specific zone through the entire year.

    Even in cases where the activity is listed as "Allowed" within the zone, you'll normally have to submit a site plan showing where parking and other things will be located on the site.

    Once you're cleared with the zoning/planning board, then you get to deal with the Fire Marshal and whatever other government/legal entities in your area that believes they have a stake in your haunt

    Hope some of that helps.

    Good luck!
    Fright In Falcon Haunted Maze
    http://frightinfalcon.com

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    • #3
      Anything zoned commercial you should be good to go... you'll just have to meet all sorts of codes and regulations.

      Have you looked into what codes you'll need to follow?

      Larry
      Larry Kirchner
      President
      www.HalloweenProductions.com
      www.BlacklightAttractions.com
      www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
      www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

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      • #4
        Talk to your local officials. Zoning and regulations greatly differ from region to region. Also, most often times, the codes and regulations are up for interpretation, so it will greatly depend on the officials in your area and how they think they should enforce the codes.

        With that said, speak to your officials early and keep them informed and up to date and, whatever you do, do not tick off your zoning/building officials! They can and will make your life a lot harder if so.
        Zach Wiechmann
        www.frontyardfright.com

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