Tailgating proposal sacked by Iowa City

It appears the tailgating magic will vanish from the site that formerly was home to the famed Magic Bus.

Doug Boothroy, Iowa City's director of housing and inspection services, has denied a temporary-use permit to the backers of a new tailgating venture called the Stadium Club. The group needed the permit to hold tailgating events across the street from Kinnick Stadium at 817 Melrose Avenue and 5 Triangle Place.

Boothroy also is recommending that the Stadium Club be denied a liquor license.

The Stadium Club supplanted the Magic Bus from the site, but now they face the same uncertain future as the Magic Bus, which recently was denied a permit by the city for the site where it wanted to relocate.

“I'm not going to say it breaks my heart,” Jeremy Freerks, 39, said of the news about the Stadium Club. He has been involved with the Magic Bus since it began in the early 1990s.

The Stadium Club planned to charge for entry and have live music, television and beer. That type of activity is not allowed on the residentially zoned land where the Stadium Club was to go, so it needed what is known as a temporary-use permit.

Boothroy said such permits allow for deviations from the code that are truly temporary, but the Stadium Club paved the entire backyard and put up fencing. He also said the commercial aspects are not compatible with residential use, the Police Department determined there was not adequate emergency access and the 23 parking spaces to be leased violate the zoning code.

That violation also is why he's recommending the Stadium Club be denied a liquor license.

The Stadium Club's Tracy Barkalow declined to comment for this story. He also is part of the group that owns the property were Stadium Club was to be located.

Iowa's first home game is three weeks from this Saturday.

Freerks said the Magic Bus is considering a couple of properties farther from the stadium in Iowa City and Coralville. Whether those will work will depend at least partially on getting approval from either city.

Temporary-use permits are in some ways subjective. The Magic Bus and Stadium Club are the first two commercial ventures the city has removed from the tailgating scene over the lack of a permit. Boothroy has said he will not target the many homeowners who make money by allowing fans to park on their property.