Southington Lowe's Customers Soon-To-Be Safe From Wayward Golf Balls

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Following town action last week, customers of a popular home improvement/garden store chain near a Southington golf driving range won't have to worry about cries of "fore" being followed by cries of "ouch."

The Southington Planning and Zoning Commission June 16 unanimously approved plans for taller netting at Chris Cote's Driving Range 2.0 to prevent golf balls from leaving the driving range property and reaching nearby businesses.

At its June 16 meeting, the commission approved a site plan modification for the golf driving range at 125 Jude Lane.

The project calls for the installation of eight new wooden poles and additional netting designed to stop driven golf balls from entering the adjacent Lowe's parking lot.

Todd Clark of Clark Land Surveying, representing the applicant, said the range owner hired a New Jersey company to design and install the new system after determining the existing netting was not sufficient.

Clark said the project will include eight 115-foot-long poles, each set approximately 15 feet into the ground.

The new poles will extend roughly 35 feet higher than the existing poles. No lighting is proposed as part of the project.

Commission members and staff questioned the applicant about construction logistics and site conditions.

Clark said two trailers would be used as staging areas behind the existing poles and that an anti-tracking pad would be installed between the Lowe's parking lot and the site's gravel drive to prevent debris from being carried onto paved surfaces.

Town staff also asked whether the ledge on site could affect installation.

Clark said a drilling company had been hired to conduct borings and that a rock-drilling contractor would be used if necessary to prepare the pole foundations.

Engineering details for the anchors and support systems are still being finalized and are expected in the coming weeks, he said.

Before approving the site plan, the commission voted 7-0 to waive a height requirement related to the poles' potential fall zone on adjacent properties, contingent upon the submission of appropriate engineering support documentation.

Southington PZC Vice Chairman Todd Chaplinsky made the motion to grant the waiver, which was seconded by Alternate Commissioner Denis Bougie.

Chaplinsky then moved to approve the site plan application, identified as SPR#1918, with the condition that all engineering requirements be met to the satisfaction of the town's engineering department.

Bougie seconded the motion.

The commission approved the application unanimously, 7-0.

The project is expected to move forward once engineering details are reviewed and approved by town staff.

For the minutes of the June 16 Southington Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, click on this link.