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Wendell board approves special‑use permit for downtown golf‑simulator bar 'Stroke of Luck'
Summary
After an evidentiary hearing, the town board granted a special‑use permit allowing an indoor recreation/golf‑simulator business with a bar at 16 E. Third St.; approval included a condition that all applicable building permits, laws and codes be obtained and maintained.
The Wendell Town Board held a quasi‑judicial evidentiary hearing and voted to grant a special‑use permit for a proposed business called Stroke of Luck at 16 East Third Street, allowing indoor recreation (golf simulators) combined with a bar/tavern/nightclub use in an existing downtown building.
Town staff presented the application and described the proposal: a 3,500‑square‑foot, one‑story building with a stated occupancy of 68 people, two golf‑simulator bays (each accommodating up to four patrons for roughly 35‑minute sessions), and seating for about 30–50 customers in a bar area. The applicants applied under the DMX (downtown mixed) zoning district; UDO provisions require a special‑use permit for indoor recreation and bar/tavern/nightclub uses in that district. Staff noted the UDO’s distance restriction for bars/taverns/nightclubs (no facility within 300 feet of a church, school, or residential district) did not block the proposal: the nearest residential district was about 500 feet away and the nearest church more than 1,000 feet away.
Staff also reviewed building and life‑safety requirements, parking needs, and neighborhood context. The UDO parking standard for an entertainment/recreation use (1–2 spaces per 1,000 sq. ft.) would require four spaces for the existing building; the UDO allows two on‑street spaces to count toward the minimum. The applicants told the board they had secured a parking agreement with a nearby property owner and noted public parking lots nearby (about 550 and 825 feet from the site). The applicants have applied for building permits pending board action.
Brad Gulley, one of the applicants and a local resident, described the concept as an indoor recreational venue with a golf simulator and a social bar atmosphere meant to draw people downtown.
After closing the public hearing, a motion was made and carried to grant the special‑use permit subject to the condition that all applicable building permits, laws and codes be obtained and maintained. The meeting record shows the board voted in favor by voice; no roll‑call vote with member names was recorded in the transcript.
