SHERIDAN - The fate of one of the last drive-in theaters left in the metro area was all but sealed Wednesday night.

The Sheridan Planning Commission voted 4-1 to allow a condominium project to take the place of the Cinderella Twin Drive-in Theatre at 3400 S. Platte River Drive.

"I'm sad to see it go, but things go on," said Don Smith, planning commission chairman.

The final site plan for The Park at Sheridan, a 316-unit condo project, now goes to the Sheridan City Council for final approval. The earliest date it will likely be considered will be at the council's Sept. 25 meeting.

"It's a bad use for the property," said Thea Hutcheson, the commissioner who voted against the project. "I don't have a better use for the land, but not that one."

Developer Jeff Booth of Embrey Partners said he was pleased with the vote.

"We're happy to be here," he said, noting that the project has been in the works for six years.

Two Sheridan residents spoke out against the project at the commission meeting.

Carma Alcock, 57, lamented the loss of one of only two drive-ins left in the Denver area. The metro area's other drive-in theater is the 88 Drive-In in Commerce City.

"Cinderella Twin was unique when it was built," she said. "There is no others like it."

She said that the drive-in is still popular.

"It's not a dead horse," she said. "It is wounded by you, so you don't have to shoot it."

Kati Alcock, 25, said she doesn't believe there is a need for another condominium project when there are still plenty of vacant homes.

"I don't think this would be successful," she said.

"He (the developer) is not going to be responsible after it's built. I don't see this working."

Kati Alcock also said it's unlikely that many people would want to live in the new condominiums, since they would have to live with constant traffic noise from two nearby highways.

"I can stand it for three hours (at the drive-in) because I can turn up the radio," she said. "But I wouldn't want to live there."

Kati Alcock also presented the commission with a petition signed by more than 800 people who supported the drive-in.

"If you give me a week, I can triple that (amount)," she said.

Hutcheson said the petitions wouldn't do much good at this point in the process.

"The signatures should have been done two to three years ago," she said. "It's too late."

Ted Blanchard, the city's chief building official, also noted that there are still a number of unresolved issues with the final site plan that have to be addressed by the City Council.

Among them are firefighting access, a requirement that the developer test for methane leaks from a nearby landfill, legal issues with the development plan, public improvements that the city wants,and urban drainage.