Steve Orr

@SOrr1

Amid an uproar over the possible sale of two Penfield golf courses, the Town Board is considering a building moratorium that would block redevelopment for now.

Shadow Lake and Shadow Pines, two public golf courses that are almost side-by-side in the western part of the town, both went on the market last week, Penfield town Supervisor Tony LaFountain said Wednesday. The Penfield courses, plus Greystone golf club in Walworth, Wayne County, also up for sale, are owned by the Dolomite Group, a mining and quarrying company.

Word of the impending sale has sparked endless rumors in Penfield among people concerned about the possibility of hundreds of new homes being built in a relatively confined pocket of the town. A Facebook page, Save the Heart of Penfield, has accumulated nearly 600 "likes" in a few days' time.

The Dolomite Group has told LaFountain it hopes to sell Shadow Lake and Greystone for continued use by golfers, but is offering Shadow Pines in Penfield to any sort of buyer.

Residential developers are clearly interested in that 214-acre property, the supervisor said — and that prompted board members to begin talking about a building moratorium to give government officials and the public time to consider what the best re-use might be for the 30-year-old golf course.

"The concern that our board has is ... what is the impact overall to infrastructure in the town?" LaFountain said. Construction of a large number of new homes in the area, which is south of Atlantic Avenue and centered on Five Mile Line Road, could stress the school systems, roads, sewers and storm drainage, among other infrastructure.

Though plans are still being developed, LaFountain said the Town Board could vote Feb. 3 on a resolution to set a public hearing on a proposed moratorium. The hearing likely would be held in late February or early March, he said.

The board could vote to set a moratorium in mid-March. It would prevent development of the golf courses for a stated period of time, perhaps 6 to 12 months, he said.

The town then would form a group made up of "a cross-section of all the interested parties" to study the property and the impact of development, and to make recommendations about future use. LaFountain said the group would include town and school district representatives, county and state transportation officials, neighbors and others.

"We would ask them to come back to the Town Board with any recommendations they might have," LaFountain said. He ticked off several possible recommendations: Allowing residential development to progress with no change, having the town and school district purchase the property, increasing lot size to lessen the number of new homes or requiring mixed-use development that would include fewer residential units.

The Dolomite Group, which has mined stone, sand and gravel in Penfield for decades, developed the two golf courses there from old quarries. Shadow Lake opened in 1979 and Shadow Pines five years later.

The company was owned by the Odenbach family at the time, though it was sold in 2000 to Oldcastle, the North American arm of an Irish building-materials company. LaFountain said the new owner had always intended to sell the golf courses but now might be seen as a propitious time, as some local courses have suffered financial stress from declining use.

An online real estate listing shows an asking price of $4.25 million for Shadow Lake and $2 million for Greystone, with both marketed as golf clubs. Shadow Pines, offered under the heading "residential development opportunity," lists its price as "market bid."

Among rumors circulating in Penfield is that Shadow Lake, and perhaps Shadow Pines, are protected from residential development by deed restrictions or legal convenent. LaFountain said he first heard that rumor Tuesday and cannot verify it, but he has asked staff to research old Town Board resolutions and property records.

No one can say for certain how many homes would be built on Shadow Pines' acreage, if that were to happen, but the land is zoned residential with half-acre lot sizes. LaFountain said citizens have tossed around numbers of 250 to 290 homes, depending on how much of the land was devoted to roads, stormwater retention and so on.

Beyond that, there is concern that the Dolomite Group might not be able to sell Shadow Lake for use as a golf course and could then open up the sale to any takers. That could lead to another 250 or more homes.

"That’s a pretty big impact to a small area," LaFountain said.

He noted that a developer already has a proposal pending before the Penfield planning board for an 86-home residential development just across Atlantic Avenue from Shadow Lake. That proposal is adding to concern about the future of the area.

"With that currently in the works, with the announced sale of Shadow Pines and the fact that Shadow Lake is out to be sold as well, that’s kind of the tipping point," LaFountain said. "All of those things caused the Town Board to say 'Time out. We’ve only got one chance at this. Let’s get it right.' "

SORR@Gannett.com