Lakeview Proposal Causes Stir

HARRISONBURG — Rockingham County officials want more information before giving the green light to a new event center and clubhouse at Lakeview Golf Club.

 

The Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to table a rezoning request to allow the construction of a 12,000-square-foot building on a parcel east of Harrisonburg off Lakeview Drive and north of Shen Lake Drive.

 

Lakeview Development Corp. also previously sought a rezoning request to build up to 76 townhouses off Massanetta Springs Road, but withdrew the request after issues with the entrance to the development were identified.

 

Lakeview officials want to replace the course’s 28-year-old clubhouse and get rid of two nearby buildings that are seen as eyesores, President Dave Holt said.

 

It would allow the course to meet the needs of patrons and the charitable groups and others who use the course for tournaments, Holt said, and it could be rented for weddings and banquets. In-house catering and alcoholic beverages would be available.

 

Proponents likened the proposal to what’s been done at Spotswood Country Club and Cross Keys Vineyard.

 

Neighbors opposed to the idea are concerned with traffic increases and the fact that Lakeview won’t offer a curfew for events as part of the rezoning request.

 

Homeowners on Lakeview Drive also would like to see the entrance to the existing building on Shen Lake Drive be the entrance to the new one, instead of on Lakeview Drive as proposed. The company is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation on where exactly it could be installed.

 

Last Call

 

District 3 Supervisor Dee Floyd, who represents the area in question and lives nearby, asked Lakeview officials to outline an operations plan detailing the number of events that would be hosted, potential curfews and the effect on traffic.

 

“It seems to me there ought to be an idea put forth,” he said.

 

Neighbors suggested a Sunday through Thursday curfew of 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

 

“Nobody is up to much good after 12:30,” Judith Rocchiccioli, a nearby property owner, told the Board of Supervisors.

 

Opponents also say that unlike Cross Keys Vineyard and Spotswood Country Club, Lakeview is in a residential area.

 

But Holt, in an interview Thursday, said the proposed site of the event center is more than two football fields away from the nearest home.

 

He said Lakeview would fight a curfew as part of the rezoning request because it would have the force of law and be too restrictive for the property. While most special events probably wouldn’t go very late, Lakeview may want to host a New Year’s Eve party, for example, officials say.

 

A curfew as part of company policy isn’t a problem, Holt added, but he said 10 p.m. would be “ludicrous,” given the course already stays busy that late in summer, when the days are hot and long.

 

“A general curfew would mean we would have to close down this course at 10 o’clock or earlier and get everyone off this course,” he said.

 

And under its rezoning request, Lakeview agrees to install “significant” landscaping to buffer the facility from residential areas, officials say.

 

As far as patrons getting rowdy — a concern raised by neighbors — Holt said there are existing regulations for noise and alcohol sales.

 

“Our position on that is state laws and county ordinances are pretty rigorous as it is,” he said.

 

Contact Jeremy Hunt at 574-6273 or jhunt@dnronline.com