Airstream Ranch Wins in Court to Stay

[Paul Dobbin]

Tampa, Florida
A 3 Judge panel ruled that the $100 a day fine against the Airstream Ranch
was illegal and the Airstream Ranch can stay. Built from 7 1/2 Airstream Trailers, the Interstate 4 location just east of Tampa has become an International roadside attraction. Like the Cadillac Ranch west of Ammarillo TX, it is a real eye catcher.
Built by Frank & Dorothy Bates, of Bates RV, Airstream Dealership, the glistening display was to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Airstream.
Now Frank bates says he plans to light it at night.
See this link for the full story.

'Airstream Ranch' along I-4 does not violate law, judges rule - St. Petersburg Times

[Cantrell]

Although I really like the display and certainly believe they should be able to keep it (their property, their Airstreams, their art, and it's way cool) it has always given me a little unsettled feeling because 7 1/2 Airstreams that could be out on the road being enjoyed are instead planted in the ground. Maybe someday they will be 'unplanted' and restored. Who knows?
Proof, however, that you can make a roadside icon out of other icons, I guess.

[Lumatic]

Even though I may like a particular film it always kind of bugs me when they blow up, burn up, smash up, @#$& up or otherwise destroy a completely perfect vintage vehicle in the name of "art". But the alternative is some kind of official censorship which I guess is worser.

[nick6930]

Originally Posted by Cantrell

Although I really like the display and certainly believe they should be able to keep it (their property, their Airstreams, their art, and it's way cool) it has always given me a little unsettled feeling because 7 1/2 Airstreams that could be out on the road being enjoyed are instead planted in the ground. Maybe someday they will be 'unplanted' and restored. Who knows?
Proof, however, that you can make a roadside icon out of other icons, I guess.

I believe they all were beyond repair and were salvaged. There would not of been a way to get titles or fix them any way. In all re"ity he saved the trailers by making art out them. There are a lot that are just cut up and sold for parts or scrap metal. He was on an episode of thevap.com and tells his whole story and the battle he was going through.

[pmclemore]

I enjoyed it as I passed by. I'm glad the court ruled in favor of free speech.

Pat

[Stefrobrts]

I'm not a fan of the art, myself, but I'm a big fan of being able to do what you want with your own stuff on your own property.

[fotochop]

Seems like they were all going to that great aluminum recycling facility in the sky anyway, better to have them bringing some quirky joy to passing drivers in Another Roadside Attraction ;-)

[Stefrobrts]

Think of how cool it would have looked if they'd just set them up in a wagon wheel, with a big (fake) bonfire in the middle lighting them up at night, like an eternal campout - now that would have been cool, and a fitting end for the old twinkies. It's a shame to do the exact same thing as the Cadillac Ranch thing - just kind of unoriginal.

[pmclemore]

Why Steph - you ARE an artist!

Pat

[Silverwanabe]

Airstream Ranch, a row of partially-buried travel trailers that is a favorite spectacle among highway sightseers, does not violate Hillsborough County, Fla., codes, a three-judge panel has ruled, according to the Tampa Tribune.
The panel last week overturned a Hillsborough County Code Enforcement Board determination that the trailers constituted junk and off-site advertising for the adjacent Bates RV dealership at Interstate 4 and McIntosh Road.
Assistant County Attorney Nancy Y. Takemori, who is handling the case, said she was reviewing the judges’ order and had not decided if she will suggest an appeal.
Lawyer Luke Lirot, who represents Airstream Ranch owner Frank Bates, said he was elated at the decision by three Hillsborough circuit court judges.
Bates said he was “tickled to death” about the victory.
“It’s not every day that you can fight city hall, so to speak, and win,” he said.
Bates, who also owns Bates RV, contends the two-year-old display is art. He said it has been featured in calendars, travel magazines and music videos.
Nearby residents have complained of motorists crowding their neighborhood while using Castlewood Road to get a better look at the creation.
The judges found there was no “competent, substantial evidence” to support the 2008 code enforcement board’s findings that the display either was junk or any type of nuisance, that it was “open outside storage,” or that it was an improper “off-site sign” advertising Bates RV.
Lirot said his client feels the decision celebrates the freedom of the open road.
The Airstreams emulate the more famous Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
The code enforcement board had ordered the removal of the RVs and levied a fine.
Seven full-sized Airstream trailers and one smaller trailer make up Airstream Ranch. Bates said he may add lighting, possibly with colored lights, and a walkway made of recycled tires now that he’s won the appeal.

Judges OK Dealer’s Airstream Ranch Display | RV Business

[Minnie's Mate]

Never more true now than "One man's trash [junk] is another man's art."

[bredlo]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

Think of how cool it would have looked if they'd just set them up in a wagon wheel, with a big (fake) bonfire in the middle lighting them up at night, like an eternal campout - now that would have been cool, and a fitting end for the old twinkies. It's a shame to do the exact same thing as the Cadillac Ranch thing - just kind of unoriginal.

I love that idea. Here's a goofy spin-off: take that wagon wheel, and tilt it up vertically so you can see all the trailers. It could be a gigantic Airstream ferris wheel... all pivoting and lit from within as they slowly make a circle in the night sky.

[nilesrob]

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to drive by and see it...

[mojo]

I don't think the issue was so much "is it art or is it junk" but more to fact is it advertising and does it fit the advertising structural codes. They already have a an airstream cut in half length wise on a directional bilboard.