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Commission recommends revoking 1992 special-use permit for Colonial Golf Course amid environmental and maintenance concerns
Summary
Planning staff cited long-term closure, failing stormwater BMPs, missing pest-management records and neighborhood changes in recommending revocation of SUP 2-92 for the Colonial Golf Course; residents urged revocation, remediation, and rezoning, and commissioners voted to recommend revocation to the Board.
The James City County Planning Commission on July 3, 2024, recommended that the Board of Supervisors revoke Special-Use Permit 2-92 for Colonial Golf Design Inc., a permit that had authorized an 18-hole golf course at 8285 Diascan/Diascon Road in 1992.
Planning staff told the commission the golf course has been closed for more than a decade and that inspections from 2010 onward showed deteriorating best-management practices (BMPs) and failing stormwater infrastructure. Staff reported missing annual integrated pest-management records and an April 2024 inspection that found the embankment, barrel pipe, and emergency spillway in failure mode. Staff evaluated the property under the county’s revocation criteria and recommended revocation on five grounds, including changed conditions, noncompliance with SUP conditions, and concern that reopening under a decades-old permit would not be adequately evaluated given surrounding development.
Multiple residents spoke in favor of revocation and urged the county to require remediation and to return the property to agricultural zoning. John Sharp and Frank Lobash said recent aerial and inspection records indicate the property is not complying with SUP conditions and requested immediate notifications to county enforcement, wetlands and Chesapeake Bay boards, and potential buyers. Paula Bennett and Virginia McLaughlin urged remediation to protect Mill Creek, fisheries and human health.
Staff said the current property owner does not object to the revocation. Commissioner Polster moved that the commission recommend revocation; the motion carried on roll call. The Planning Commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to the Board of Supervisors for final action.
