Atlas Twp. ? Developer Matthew McCarty is still giving it his best swing, but the Atlas Township Planning Commission hasn’t approved the site plan for McCarty’s Golf Center.
The driving range, proposed to be located at 7127 State Road, north of Brown’s Do-it Center, needs to be located on a parcel of at least nine and one-half acres, according to engineering firm Wade-Trim of Flint.
The site McCarty is proposing is located on 6.79 acres, said planning commission vice chair Rick Misek.
While McCarty pointed to nearby ranges as examples of smaller-sized golf facilities, planning commissioners weren’t convinced.
‘I don’t know how you can compare with what other communities have done,? said Misek in an interview with The Citizen following the public hearing and planning commission meeting July 21. ?(Smaller driving ranges) aren’t necessarily right, but they’re there.?
The property was zoned commercial in 1997. At that time, commissioners were told by owner Gerald Barnett, who purchased the 19-acre parcel for $90,000, that the property would be used for a golf driving range, said Misek.
Barnett’s current plan is to sell the divided property in three smaller parcels for a total of $1.1 million, Misek said.
The lack of a green buffer between the plan’s parking lot and a residential parcel located north of the site is also an issue, along with the proximity of a residential Coolidge Road development abutting the site.
A conditional use permit was passed for the parent parcel, but approval of the site plan was tabled until the planning commission’s Aug. 18 meeting.