Variance Sought for Banquet Hall at Woodland Hills

A local building contractor wants to reopen the Woodland Hills Country Club clubhouse as a banquet facility, but in order to do that he is seeking a variance from the Lower Saucon Township Zoning Hearing Board, according to a news story published by the Morning Call Feb. 21.

According to the article, Woodland Hills owner Alexander Patullo wants to subdivide 13.4 acres surrounding the clubhouse from the 162-acre golf course property on Lower Saucon Road in the township. The remaining land would thereby be made available for sale or development.

Earlier efforts by Patullo to gain a variance for the project resulted in a lengthy series of appeals by neighbors that reached as far as the Commonwealth Court, which ruled that the case should be returned to township zoners for definitional purposes, the story indicates.

At the meeting Monday, a group of neighbors represented by attorney Steven Goudsouzian--who is also a neighbor--challenged the variance request, it also said.

Zoners are expected to vote on the matter at their March 19 meeting.