Source: Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)
Grafton, Mass. - Plans for a clubhouse at The Highfields of Grafton have been anticipated since the housing and golf course project was proposed eight years ago, but those plans were met with some trepidation last night as the question was raised of whether the town's zoning bylaws allowed such a building.
Magill Associates presented plans for the two-story clubhouse at 16 Magill Drive to the Planning Board last night during a public hearing for a special permit.
Permitting for The Highfields project began in 1996 with plans that would yield 155 residential house lots and open space in the form of an 18-hole golf course. The project was ultimately approved in April 2000. The Planning Board approved a special permit to allow the golf course within the residential zone. A special permit is required to build the clubhouse as well. A conservation restriction is pending before the state, and it cannot be approved until all the permits associated with the project _ namely, now, the clubhouse _ are approved, said Joseph M. Antonellis, the Milford-based lawyer representing Magill Associates.
The clubhouse, as proposed, would sit on 4.24 acres, with an additional 2.7 acres set aside for a 284-space parking lot. The first floor is about 16,800 square feet, containing the pro shop, a golfer's lounge, a 250-seat function room, a deck overlooking the 18th green and an 80-seat patio. The 2,660-square-foot second floor would contain changing rooms and management offices. A lower level would provide storage space for golf carts, the kitchen and a golfers' locker room. The building is designed to mimic the barn structures found in the area.
"This is the central hub of golf course activity," Mr. Antonellis said, adding that trailers presently serve as a temporary clubhouse, where equipment and golf carts are rented and refreshments are served.
Planning Board member Robert Hassinger, who has been on the board since the project was first proposed, questioned whether a clubhouse is allowed in a residential zone under the town's zoning bylaws.
"The question is when does an accessory use become a regular or principal use?" Mr. Hassinger said. "That question has been with us since 1996. We've avoided what the clubhouse will look like." He added that his fear was that the 250-seat function hall would operate more as a restaurant.
Mr. Antonellis said that it is not the owner's intent to operate a restaurant. He said the clubhouse would be open during golf season and closed from Dec. 1 to March 15. The clubhouse function room would be used for golf-related functions such as tournaments and fund-raisers, and might be used for weddings during golf season.
Building Inspector Ronald P. DeSantis said the entire Highfields project is on 317 acres, of which the golf course is 221.8 acres. The clubhouse and parking lot represent about 3 percent of the total acreage. Under the flexible subdivision bylaw, Mr. DeSantis said, it is inferred that 5 percent of the land can be used for parking and accessory structures. The clubhouse could be one of those structures, he said.
"If it were a Wal-Mart or an Outback Steakhouse, I would say definitely not," Mr. DeSantis said. "It appears an accessory use could be allowed with reasonable conditions."
Mr. Hassinger added that there is a bylaw that differentiates accessory uses from providing room for accessory structures, and the more specific of the two bylaws wins out.
"Our feeling is that this is an allowed use," Mr. Antonellis said. "Earlier decisions account for the clubhouse ... I feel we have very strong footing in the legal aspect to place this as part and parcel of the golf course and feel very comfortable that the board has the authority to grant the special permit and allow the clubhouse to be built."
For example, Mr. Antonellis said a condition that the clubhouse not operate after 11 p.m. was a condition for a special permit previously approved by the Planning Board.
"To say that a golf course exists without a clubhouse would be the exception to the rule," Mr. Antonellis said, noting that even the most basic golf courses have some form of clubhouse.
Some residents in attendance spoke in support of the clubhouse. The noted that owner John Magill is a lifelong resident of Grafton who lives within the Highfield development. They said his expertise should be respected. Others argued that the building constituted commercial development in a residential zone and commercial development on open space.
The public hearing was continued to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13.