BOONE – The Boone Town Council heard a plan to redevelop Boone Golf Club that would add more than 100 residential units throughout the golf course, prompting questions and concerns from the community and council members.
The revised design, presented during an informal discussion, includes plans for 40 townhouse units, 32 cottage lots, and 36 condominiums on approximately 11 acres split across three sites around the property, along with a new practice range. Golf course architect and planner Rick Robbins said it would leave the 18-hole golf course untouched.
Adams said the golf course will keep all 18 holes when development is done.
Photo by Lorelei Roberts
“We can generate some income for both developments that would help, and we would generate some needed housing for the town of Boone that is very, very convenient to both (Watauga Medical Center) and Appalachian State University,” Robbins said.
The 153-acre property off Fairway Drive is currently zoned residential-agricultural. It operates as an 18-hole golf course with a clubhouse and grill in a W-4 watershed, which limits density to two units per acre.
Austin Adams said he has consistently refused to negotiate with offers that did not plan to keep the golf course, even refusing a prospective buyer planning to build a Target on the site.
An initial site plan was discussed at a town council meeting last October and included fewer than 18 holes of golf alongside more extensive housing, which drew strong public opposition, longtime majority owner Austin Adams said, prompting them to go back to the drawing board.
Rick Robbins explains the layout of the future residential developments on the golf course.
Photo by Lorelei Roberts
“I got the feedback that it was not what the community wanted, and some of my family members suggested that might not be what they wanted either, but I can tell you that since October the 9th, I have spent a lot of time talking to people about some solution that would leave it as an 18-hole golf course,” Adams said.
Council members raised concerns about increased traffic to Fairway Drive, Kellwood Drive and Deerfield Road.
Council member Virginia Roseman questioned how the golf course fared during Hurricane Helene and asked about flooding.
Robins said the golf course did flood in many areas, but rising waters did not reach any of the proposed development areas.
“There are floodplains and floodways on this property; we’re well aware of them, and we expect them as it is a watershed overlay important to the water supply of the town of Boone,” Robins said. “We realize whatever we do has to respect that and have no development in the floodplain or the floodway.”
Council member Adrian Tait asked about the possibility of having a greenway throughout the golf course, providing biking and walking activities to the community. Adams and Robins said they would look into installing one.
Community members raised similar concerns, citing previous development denials based on traffic and road work worsening flood conditions.
Residents were concerned about increased traffic on Deerfield Road and Kellwood Drive, citing a 15-unit condo proposal on Fairway Drive that the council denied for traffic concerns and daily traffic trouble getting home.
Residents also noted that flooding on Kellwood Drive has worsened since Helene, and flooding near Deerfield Road has worsened since the construction of Appalachian State University’s Health Sciences building, as well as state road and bridge work that began in 2004.
Beyond traffic and flood issues, Byron and Sharon Talbert – who said their family owned 150 acres of the golf course before selling it to create Boone Golf Club – claimed a verbal agreement was made that the land would remain as green space.
Because no formal application was made, Council members took no action after the public comment period.
The proposed locations of the developments on the golf course.
A concept of what the town homes could look like.