Houses on the fairway? Waynesville Golf aces one, shanks one before planning board

Mar. 23—A plan to build 12 homes on the golf course at Waynesville Inn and Golf Club has landed in the rough.

The developer got a Mulligan during their first tee off with the Waynesville planning board last month. They returned this week for another shot, but fell short once again.

Meanwhile, a second residential development of 13 homes on the course passed muster with the planning board. Both development projects followed massive renovations to the property and a sweeping redesign of the course by new owners of the nearly century-old golf resort in the heart of Waynesville.

A divided Waynesville planning board voted against a controversial plan that called for 12 single-family homes on 3.5 acres off Longview Drive. The 4-3 vote by the planning board came after a lengthy public hearing Monday night, the second such public hearing following the first one a few weeks prior. The denial was only a recommendation, however, as the final say rests with the Waynesville Town Council.

A proposal for a second residential development on the golf course — one calling for 13 homes on 11 acres — passed on a 6-1 vote. That subdivision sits along Greenview Drive on what used to be the No. 3 hole.

Both the 12-home and 13-home development proposals by the Waynesville Golf Club were slated to come before Waynesville Town Council for a public hearing and final verdict at its March 26 meeting. But the 12-home subdivision on Longview has been pulled from the agenda following the planning board vote to give the developer more time to respond to issues raised in the public hearing.

Too many waivers

The planning board majority voting against the Longview proposal cited density issues among the several waivers that Waynesville Golf Club is seeking.

Zoning for the parcel has a minimum lot size of half an acre for single-family homes. The developer sought a waiver to build 12 homes on 3.5 acres, with lot sizes between 0.13 acres to 0.27 acres.

Waynesville Golf Club is also seeking waivers for lot width, civic space, alternate landscape plan, pedestrian facilities and for driveways in the subdivision.

The number of waivers was too much for planning board member John Baus.

"The development office, this board, town council, we all have an obligation to do development in compliance with our standards," Baus said. "This development, it basically throws all of our standards out the window. It is so outside our standards. It is more inconsistent with our standards than consistent. I don't see how we can follow our duty and approve this in its current form."

Baus was joined by fellow board members Jan Grossman, Ginger Hain and Tommy Thomas in voting no. Board members Travis Collins, Stuart Bass and Michael Blackburn voted in support of the project.

Splitting hairs

Patrick Bradshaw of Civil Design Concepts, representing the developer, again argued the golf club could just build townhomes instead of houses — since zoning allows up to six units per acre if building townhomes.

"This is not to insinuate this is the path we are on, but just recognize what this could be versus what is proposed," Bradshaw said. "We are trying to develop a compatible development with the surrounding land area."

Bradshaw said the lots sizes were reduced in part to accommodate an internal road within the parcel providing two access points on to Longview Drive. Constructing the internal roadway resulted in a loss of about an acre of land hemmed in between Longview and the internal roadway that will remain green space.

"We gave up land area to do that," Bradshaw said, of the green space that will front Longview.

There is another 1.5 acres carved out of the subdivision that will be green space, as well, Bradshaw said. Removing 2.5 acres from the development footprint resulted in smaller lots for the area that was left.

"You see small acreages associated with the lots, but the project itself is living larger than that," Bradshaw said.

Neighbors object

Asheville attorney Clinton Cogburn represents 12 property owners who live close to the proposed Longview subdivision. He argued that the development proposal is "extraordinary" based on the number of waiver requests and that it should be denied.

Cogburn said his clients were especially opposed to the size of the proposed lots saying they were well below the minimum for single-family homes in that zoning district.

"When you ask for that number of waivers, typically you also provide additional certainty as to what you are going to do, how you are going to build it, place additional restrictions on yourself," Cogburn said. "The applicant is saying, 'Trust us, you know us.'"

Waynesville Golf Club managing partner David Tart argued that the company has been good stewards of the property, including architectural guidelines, covenants and restrictions.

"There are a lot of things that we could have done when we bought the property that we did not do," Tart said. "In this world of high-density, multi-family, townhomes, we chose not to do that. The statements made that anybody can buy a lot and build what they want is not true. Why would we ever allow that? We are paying real close attention to what we establish up front and the thoughtfulness of the adjacent neighborhood."

Tart noted that the new ownership group has invested $30 million into the WGC, including renovating the inn and the golf course.

"We have done everything we have said we would do and we will continue to do that," Tart said. "If it means we have to further refine some of our documents, we are close to that."