Bowling center opens

photo Haden Griffith, 4, looks for his ball in the sixth frame of his game at Pin Strikes grand opening. The amusement center is located at 6241 Perimeter Drive.

Bob Patel, co-owner of the Pin Strikes family fun center, beamed as Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield joined Chattanooga's business elite on a tour of Patel's upscale Lee Highway attraction in mid-December.

"I'm glad it's in Brainerd. I can walk here," Littlefield joked to developer Emerson Russell, who helped back the 24-bowling lane project.

Workers still were making adjustments to the lighting, which comes alive during cosmic bowling on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

James Garrett, 9, recently rode the bumper cars while his mother looked on.

"It's a good environment for kids and a good family atmosphere," she said.

The bowling center opened several weeks behind schedule, but Patel said he had his reasons for the delay.

His ambitious plan included the simultaneous installation of bumper cars, a laser tag course, a bar and grill, a ball blasting arena and two dozen bowling lanes, all of which took time, Patel said.

Even harder was navigating the waters of Chattanooga's alcohol regulations.

"To serve alcohol after 11, we had to get a special nightclub license," Patel said. "But we're not a nightclub."

Patel pointed out that few nightclubs have bowling lanes and bumper cars. They more often have DJs and dancing.

The original City Council legislation was drafted to prevent noisy nightclub patrons from waking nearby homeowners in the middle of the night.

The inclusion of a bar and grill serving alcohol was the sticking point in this instance because the bowling alley's front door is less than 750 feet from several homes.

However, those same homes are also directly adjacent to noisy Highway 153, multiple lanes of blacktop that carry thousands of cars and trucks per day through the middle of Chattanooga.

"We're 711 feet away from those houses as the crow flies," said general manager Michael Dean, adding, "I would think the noise of 18-wheelers driving by outside their door would be more of a concern."

Pin Strikes is a copy of Patel's other Pin Strikes location in Stockbridge, Ga., which is able to make more money since it serves alcohol until 2 a.m., he said.

"We're still working on getting a special exception for this location," he said.

He is concerned that if Chattanooga gets a reputation for baiting businesses to town and then switching up the regulations, investment in the area could dry up.

City Attorney Mike McMahan said efforts are under way to refine the definition of "nightclub" so as not to draw so many businesses into the prohibition.

"The definition of a nightclub is very broad," he said. "They're in the process now of changing the definition to only catch the obnoxious activities that occur late at night."

City Council member Peter Murphy admitted the first draft of the ordinance may have gone overboard in some respects, but he said in other respects it was not comprehensive enough.

A newly constructed Buffalo Wild Wings was the first business to run afoul of "nightclub" regulations, but it was granted a special exception. The City Council soon put a moratorium on special exceptions while the rules were revised.

"It wasn't the council's intent to impede a private business," Murphy said. "Whatever comes out of the Planning Commission process and goes onto the council, we'll make it clear that the permit doesn't apply to a bowling alley where adult beverages are served."

The revised ordinance should come before the City Council in mid-January, he said.

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