Disc golf courses, typically in wooded settings, have "holes" that are chains on a pole. The golfer throws a disc, trying to embed it into the chains. This is Voorhees' Stafford Woods Disc Golf Course, rated as the top course in New Jersey.
A Medford property owner's application to open an 18-hole public disc golf course at his Hartford Road residence was a nonstarter with the Township zoning board last week.
After listening to testimony by applicant Brandon Whitaker and objections from some neighbors, the board refused to give the Whitaker Woods Disc Golf Course a use variance to operate. He applied for the variance with his wife, Kelly Whitaker.
The variance was needed because a golf course is not a permitted use in the residential zone. The board voted 6-0 to deny the application at the November 12 meeting.
Whitaker already has built a course on his 15-acre property and has been operating it privately for about three years. The Professional Disc Golf Association lists the course, advising players to contact Whitaker for permission to play.
"My question is, why has it been operating and allowed to operate without permits or without the zoning compliance for this long?" resident Kathleen Moore of Georgia Trail testified before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. "I am opposed to the development of a Hartford Road disc golf course for hobby purposes or for any other purposes."
Jane Curcio, who has lived on Hartford Road across from the property for 23 years, told the board that she doesn't "feel like this should be in my neighborhood right across the street from my house."
Others testified in favor of the project, urging the board to permit a public course, which would become a nonprofit and run daily and also host four tournaments a year, Whitaker testified.
Whitaker was represented by land-use lawyer Christopher Norman of the Platt Law Group in Stratford who said he took the case pro bono — without charge — because he is an avid disc golfer, playing frequently at the Stafford Woods course in Voorhees.
Disc golfers turned out to support Whitaker and his plan.
"I can't think of a family more fitting to run this particular course than the Whitakers," testified Steven Spong of Marlton.
Nicholas Commisso of Marlton said he has played the course extensively.Â
"I really truly believe it will be a great impact for this town," he told the board.
Eric Moore of East Lake Boulevard in Medford agreed: "They really have gone out of their way to make something that is truly a gem in our town."
Before the vote, zoning board Planner Michelle Taylor, president of Mount Laurel-based Taylor Design Group, Inc., told board members that a use variance would result in two principal uses for the Whitaker property: a residence and a golf course.
"Don't muddy the waters here about accessory (use) versus principal (use)," she advised the board. "There are two principal uses proposed on this site. One is a residence. The other is a disc golf course that is open to the public in some fashion and on a daily basis and open for events four times per year. "
Lots on the Whitaker property on Hartford Road are outlined in blue on the map.
