Golf course looking to expand services
HALFMOON, N.Y. >> The owner of a popular golf course is seeking approval to add a new structure that will house a larger pro shop.
Representatives for Bruce Tanski, the owner of Fairways of Halfmoon Golf Course, 17 Johnson Road, submitted plans for the 3,300-square-foot building to the Planning Department in November.
The one story pro shop would be built slightly east of the existing golf complex as a free standing independent structure. It would replace the course putting green which is to be moved deeper into the golf course layout.
The existing pro shop is 650 square-feet and part of a larger structure that houses a clubhouse, a restaurant, banquet facility, and a brew pub. The former pro shop is to be repurposed as a conference room for private meetings.
The new building is to be constructed on a 1.68-acre site that is zoned A-R, Agricultural Residential. As part of the golf course it is to be included in the special use permit which allows a golf club and its accessory uses.
The project is also proposing to redesign a section of the existing parking lot and expand a rear deck on the existing building by 600-square-feet.
The project was presented to the Planning Board at its Nov. 25 meeting. During that meeting board member Rich Berkowitz asked Tanski’s representative Mike Bianchino if the pro shop would be used for “balls, gloves, and some equipment” and was told, “equipment merchandise, right” by Bianchino.
The questioning by the board was brief and the project was referred to the town’s engineering consultant for review.
A request to expand the physical structure of the golf course service area was at the center of a board discussion in 2017 when Tanski sought approval for the 1,650-square-foot Hank Hudson Brew Pub. During that discussion his previous expansion requests were noted and Tanski was asked by board members if the brew pub was to be his last expansion at the site. They were told it was.
As part of its approval the brew pub was to close at 11 p.m., allowed no live entertainment, and was forbidden to advertise independently of the golf course.
The brew pub was approved by the board with a 6-1 vote and immediately drew a legal filing from two neighbors. The legal case was eventually dismissed but that has not altered concern with the site’s continued growth by neighboring resident Joseph Micklas, one of the two men who filed the lawsuit.
Micklas said he has seen the course expand from a recreational facility into an ever-growing destination spot that offers golf, dining, banquets, and a brew pub. He is concerned the size of the new building is overly large for selling balls, tees, gloves and a few sets of clubs.
“It was a surprise when I learned about the Golf Course requesting a building permit for another building on the current site,” he said in an email. “The reason for my surprise was the Planning Board
ding any more building at the current site.
“In my opinion it would be a breach of public trust to even consider going against its own proclamation. I think the Planning Board is there to protect the public, not the applicant.”