A special exception permit for a proposed reconstruction of the Lexington Golf and Country Club’s golf course was recommended for approval last Wednesday by the Rockbridge County Planning Commission.
Approval of the SEP is to be considered by the Board of Supervisors at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, May 27. If approval is granted, work on the reconstruction project could begin this summer with removal of the course’s existing grass.
Conditions of the recommended SEP include provisions for testing water in streams and wells both before and after chemicals are applied in conjunction with the replacement of the golf course’s turf. Such testing is also to be conducted after the reconstruction of the golf course has been completed. Testing of water and sediment of streams is to be repeated annually for at least five years.
Ensuring that groundwater and streams aren’t contaminated by the application of chemicals to the golf course grass has been a concern of neighbors who have spoken at public hearings about the project.
At last week’s meeting, Gretchen Sokow, who said she lives less than half a mile from the golf course, reiterated those concerns. Certain chemicals that are to be used have been shown to cause health problems such as Parkinson’s Disease, she said.
Debra Woodcock, who lives immediately adjacent to the golf course, said she’d brought a bucket of balls that she’d collected from her property. She said she felt the golf course was being “shoehorned” into an area that’s too small for the facility. “It’s a very tight design. I’m concerned about stray balls,” she said. “I consider this a safety issue.”
Prior to last week’s presentation on updates to the golf course plans, Chris Slaydon, the county’s director of community development, said he’d made a formal determination as zoning administrator on May 8 “that the nonconforming use of a special event venue at LGCC is neither allowed nor permitted as part of a special exception for a country club. Therefore, separate actions will be required to be taken in order for the property to be utilized for special events.”
Separate actions Slaydon alluded to could include a zoning text amendment to “provide for the use as a special exception venue in an R-1 District and to amend the current definition of a country club to include special events.” He said his zoning determination would not prevent the country club from hosting special events for members of the country club.
In his presentation of updates to the design of the reconstructed golf course, Russ Orrison of Perkins and Orrison said there would be vegetative screening to the area associated with the planned pickleball courts, relocated outdoor swimming pool and proposed playground area, along a portion of New Camron Drive and the proposed 15th green.
As for the testing of groundwater and streams for certain chemicals that would be a condition of the recommended SEP, Orrison said he has no objections as long as the contemplated testing “is reasonably associated with the use.”
Other conditions attached to the recommended SEP include limiting the hours of operation for the pickleball courts and/or tennis courts, outdoor swimming pool and playground area to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.; storage of chemicals confined to within the proposed maintenance facility in a manner that prevents spillage; and installing 8-foot-tall fencing (at a minimum) surrounding the pickleball and/or tennis courts that shall have an acoustic panel system that limits noise by 20 decibels.
The proposed conditions require that the reconstruction project must be implemented within six months of approval of the SEP, and be completed within 30 months from the date of implementation, with up to a 12-months extension upon a written request to the zoning administrator detailing the reasons for the extension.
