Carlsbad Out of Step With Medieval Times, Firm Says

Facing delays and community opposition, a firm has abandoned its plans to build a Medieval Times restaurant in Carlsbad that would have featured lavish equestrian shows and costumed knights in mock combat.

The proposed theme restaurant had divided the community between merchants who favored the new tourist attraction and homeowners’ groups that rallied against a project they feared would warp Carlsbad’s village atmosphere.

Medieval Times spokesman Ron Yeakley said Tuesday the application to build the restaurant on 6 acres at Interstate 5 and Palomar Airport Road has been withdrawn from the city’s planning department.

“There’s always a chance we’ll come back, but not a great one,” said Yeakley, adding it had become “too time-consuming and expensive to keep the project going.”

Although homeowner opposition was upsetting, what finally stalled the project was the city’s insistence that Palomar Airport Road, which would have ushered traffic over the freeway toward the restaurant, be widened before Medieval Times could be built.

City planners said Caltrans intends to widen the two-lane bridge in 1991, a delay Medieval Times was unwilling to accept. Still, Yeakley said, “We’ll wait and see” what happens in Carlsbad until the option on the property expires. He wasn’t sure when the lease ends.

“The homeowners groups objecting to us, I would doubt whether any of them had even been to see us,” Yeakley said. There are Medieval Times restaurants in Buena Park and near Disney World in Orlando, Fla. They are based on life in 11th-Century Spain.

Medieval Times proposed dinner shows in Carlsbad featuring 18 horses and six knights who joust with lances and continue hand-to-hand combat on foot while 1,100 patrons eat roast chicken or spareribs with their fingers.

But neither the entertainment or the anticipated 740 vehicles per show impressed Carlsbad’s homeowner organizations, which circulated petitions urging the city planning commission to reject the restaurant.

“I don’t know too many people who’d find that type of entertainment something they’d pay to go see,” said Cindy Ward, a Spinnaker Hill resident and city parks and recreation commissioner.

She was pleased the Medieval Times application was withdrawn and said the city should not approve any development at the site until the road is widened.

Bailey Noble, president of the 120-member Terramar Assn. and a foe of the restaurant, said while he didn’t think Medieval Times reflected Carlsbad’s image, his main problem was the project’s impact on traffic.

“You were going to have cars backed up on the freeway. That would be absolutely terrible,” said Noble.

Yeakley said Medieval Times is not looking at other properties in Carlsbad.