Greencastle golf course may become residential housing
By PAT FRIDGEN Echo Pilot Correspondent

Golfing days at the Greencastle Greens may be numbered. The 18-hole course is slated to become a 191-unit housing development under plans submitted to Antrim Township last week. The Greens is the only golf course in the township.

If a company in Connecticut gets its druthers, golfers in Greencastle will have to travel to other communities to get their birdies and bogeys. The fairways will be covered with driveways and houses.

On July 19, at closing time, the Antrim Township office received an application to convert the Greencastle Greens into a 191-lot subdivision. The entire 212 acres would be turned into a Conservation by Design neighborhood, under the proposal submitted by golf course owner Greencastle CIBG of South Norwalk, Conn. Tax records show the company, managed by Greenfield Partners LLC, purchased the golf course on July 1, 2005.

The 18-hole golf course has been a fixture since 1991. Traditional housing developments have spread around the perimeter in phases. The latest phase of the Greencastle Greens development is underway on Shannon Drive South by the 13th fairway.

Township zoning officer Angela Garland said the recent application plans to follow the CBD ordinance adopted by the Antrim Township board of supervisors on May 30. That requires 40 percent green space in each new housing development.

"They say they are using Conservation by Design," said Garland. "We haven't verified it. We don't know if they took the wetlands out of the formula. Our planner is looking it over."

She said the plans show the green space would be along Muddy Run, the steep slopes of the property, and the woodlands.

Zoning issue

Attorneys from the law firm of Dick, Stein, Schemel, Wine, and Frey LLP have been working on behalf of Dan Sheedy to enact a recreational zoning ordinance to prevent natural areas of the township from falling prey to developers. Sheedy was the original developer of Greencastle Greens.

Ed Wine and Paul Schemel have appeared before the supervisors twice to present their ideas. Public and private recreational areas such as parks, ballfields, Martin's Mill Bridge, and Ruritan clubs would be included in the ordinance, so that the lands would remain available for public recreational uses.

"We think the ordinance is good for the whole township," said Wine. "We only have one golf course, and people think it's only for that. But there are lots of areas to preserve."

His firm received a phone call from the township on July 21 about the subdivision application.

"I'm disappointed. We sensed it was coming, we just didn't know the timing," Wine said. "This was a project Dan Sheedy started. He hates to see the golf course developed."

Work on the recreational zoning ordinance will continue. The lawyers have been corresponding with township solicitor John Lisko on legal issues. "We're not giving up," concluded Wine.

Reactions

Shock and dismay are the initial reactions of people as they learn of the potential loss of the golf course facility.

"I'm a golfer, so I'm not happy about this," said Brad Washington of Falls Church, Va. He said he works in Maryland and plays golf at the Greens about twice a month. "I like it here."

Greencastle Greens assistant golf pro Matt Rauth said the golfers have been pretty upset. Word is just beginning to filter out. They don't want the transformation to occur.

"We have no information if it's even going to happen," said Rauth. "But if it happens, it happens. There's nothing we can do about it."

Garland said the township planning commission, staff, and engineering firms will review the application. Once it is completely in line with the CBD ordinance it will go before the board.

"I have never yet seen a perfect plan," she said. "Just in looking it over, I see some deficiencies to our ordinance."

After an application is submitted, the municipality has ninety days to act. "Every time there is a revision, the clock starts over," Garland said. "It can take a year or more to finalization."