The 66-year-old Vienna, Va. club received unanimous approval from the city’s Planning Commission to build a 12,000-sq. ft. addition between its existing clubhouse and pool area. The 15-foot-tall addition would resemble a row of carriage houses and contain a new area for golf cart storage, maintenance and indoor washing, along with a new fitness center and enclosed terrace with access from the existing ballroom. The project would free space in the existing clubhouse for a small private dining room, a lounge with three golf-simulator bays, and a youth activity center. The permitting process now moves to a Board of Zoning Appeals hearing on June 17.
Members of the Planning Commission in Vienna, Va. have voted 8-0 to recommend that the Vienna Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) approve a conditional-use permit allowing Westwood Country Club in Vienna to build a 12,000-sq. ft. addition to its clubhouse, reported InsideNoVa.com, a news website for Northern Virginia.
The BZA is scheduled to take up the matter on June 17, InsideNoVa.com reported.
The proposed addition would be located between the existing clubhouse and pool area, InsideNoVa.com reported. The applicant would perform additional site work in the vicinity and make interior improvements inside the existing clubhouse, said Braden Field of MTFA Architecture.
“The intent is to provide enhanced amenities for the current members and be able to compete better in the marketplace with area country clubs,” Field said.
The 15-foot-tall addition is being designed to have a minimal effect on the country club’s site and neighbors, and would use similar materials to those of the existing clubhouse so the buildings blend seamlessly, Field added. The new structure’s architecture would resemble a row of carriage houses, he said.
The proposed addition would contain a new golf cart storage area, allowing cart maintenance and washing indoors, instead of the current practice of performing them outside on a concrete pad, Field said. “They’re really trying to get that out of view and tucked away in a more private location,” he said.
A proposed new fitness center in the addition would “allow the club to increase fitness offerings with updated training equipment, dedicated group and multi-use fitness studios, and improved space with higher ceilings and natural light,” the club’s application read.
Part of the addition’s roof would be used as an outdoor terrace that could be accessed from the clubhouse’s ballroom, InsideNoVa.com reported. There would be a trellis on the deck to provide shade and visual interest. A 42-inch-tall guardrail, set back a foot from the roof’s edge, would enclose the terrace.
The project would free up space on the existing clubhouse’s lower level, InsideNoVa.com reported, so it could be converted into a small, private dining room capable of seating 12 to 14 people. There also would be a lounge with three golf-simulator bays, and the club’s youth activities would be expanded into the former fitness center.
The country club, founded in 1954, is located on 157.3 acres, InsideNoVa.com reported. The club’s history for obtaining conditional-use permits, according to Kelly O’Brien, principal planner with the Vienna Department of Planning and Zoning, included these purposes: in 1962, to establish a private club; in 1972, to install lighting facilities; in 1999, for construction of a new maintenance facility, and in 2000, for a major clubhouse addition.
If the club desired to have live entertainment on the outdoor terrace, it would have to obtain a separate conditional-use permit, O’Brien said.
Westwood CC is not seeking changes to its membership, InsideNoVa.com reported. The club is already at its cap of 500 golf members and is about 40 below its limit of 250 social members, a club official told the Planning Commission.
Planning Commission member Andrew Meren moved to recommend that the BZA approve the permit, and recommended that the country club consider adding a “green roof” on the addition’s section that would not be occupied by the outdoor terrace, InsideNoVa.com reported.
Commission member David Patariu, who lives near the club, thanked its management for minimizing impacts on local residents, InsideNoVa.com reported. “I think you guys are great neighbors,” he said.
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