Waynesville grants golf club development request
New homes coming to the Waynesville Golf Club and Inn are for illustrative purposes and don’t necessarily depict the exact footprint of future development. Town of Waynesville photo
Raines Company can now move forward with plans to open up development for 13 custom-built single-family homes on 11 acres off Greenview Drive and adjacent to the rejuvenated Waynesville Golf Club and Inn after Waynesville Town Council concurred with a prior planning board recommendation.
Built in 1926, the course had become somewhat dated and worn, along with the 1930s-era clubhouse and other amenities. In 2021, Raines purchased the 165-acre site, which included the 27-hole course and 111 guest rooms, for $9 million. Company officials proposed $25 million in improvements, including to the course and guest rooms. Contractors got to work quickly, and the club reopened in July 2023 with a redesigned 18-hole course and rehabbed rooms.
At the time, developers also noted the possibility of future residential expansion; three of four rental cottages have now been completed, with a concrete pad in place for the fourth.
The Waynesville Planning Board recommended a zoning map amendment and conditional district rezoning for the project on March 18 by a vote of 6 to 1.
On March 26, Council voted unanimously to approve the planning board’s recommendation, albeit with a slew of concessions related to driveways, landscaping and sidewalks. The development will be bisected by a lane and served by a cul-de-sac at the east end.
Single family homes were already permitted within the existing zoning district, and the proposed 13 homes fall far below the maximum base density of six units per acre. Lot sizes will range from half an acre to nearly an acre.
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Lot owners will be members of the golf club, although officials associated with the project didn’t say if membership would be included with the lot or if owners would be required to purchase a membership as a condition of ownership.
Another housing development proposed by Raines for the other side of the course off Longview Drive was rejected by the planning board at their March 18 meeting. A much higher density was proposed there, with 12 units on 3.5 acres.
Although Raines could have brought that development to Council to see if they’d agree with the planning board’s rejection, the public hearing was pulled from the agenda on March 27. Raines hasn’t announced plans for what will happen to that plot of land.
— Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor
