Two developers will get the chance to revive the long-vacant original clubhouse at the Sand Creek Golf Course in Chesterton.
Chesterton’s Board of Zoning Appeals on Thursday unanimously granted the request of the Lake Erie Land Company for a variance that would allow for B-3 zoning business uses within a residential area.
The plan is for the Lake Erie Land Company to sell the property to Daniel Fowler and Jim Metcalf, who plan to renovate the 7,000 square foot clubhouse on Sand Creek Drive.
The clubhouse, built when the golf course was first developed, has been closed since 2017.
Fowler said they haven’t settled on exactly what will go inside the building, but they are leaning toward it being an “incubator” for small businesses to locate.
Board member James Kowalski said he didn’t have an issue with the developers, but did with the petitioner — the Lake Erie Land Company.
“This property had been abandoned for use in the last eight years by the petitioner,” Kowalski said.
Kowalski said it’s unfortunate that when the clubhouse was first developed, there wasn’t a Planned Unit Development (PUD) agreement in place to govern the use of the property.
As a result, Kowalski said the BZA in this instance is acting like the Plan Commission and Town Council in rezoning the use of the property.
Over the years, there have been a number of prospective buyers who had ideas for the property that didn’t come to fruition.
The last attempt was from Chicago-area developer David Faganel, who wanted to knock down the clubhouse and build high-rise condominiums on the 1.67 acres. The Chesterton Advisory Plan Commission unanimously rejected that plan in January 2023.
The Sand Creek Homeowners Association opposed the condominium plan. But the homeowners association was supportive of a redevelopment of the old clubhouse.
“The Sand Creek HOA recognizes the need to find an appropriate use for this building that has been vacant since 2017. We believe that limited commercial uses, properly restricted, could benefit both the property owner and our neighborhood while maintaining the residential character of Sand Creek,” said the letter signed by Chris Jones, the HOA president.
Kowalski and other BZA Board members noted that the support of the Homeowners Association is important.
The Sand Creek Homeowners Association did ask for some restrictions on the business uses that are allowed under B-3 zoning. The association also noted that it didn’t want a “strip mall” at the location, but wouldn’t oppose a bar/restaurant as long as it wasn’t a “nightclub.”
The BZA stipulated that the old clubhouse property couldn’t be used for a childcare center, drug store, nursing home or retirement home. The board, though, didn’t go along with all of the restriction requests from the association, such as prohibiting a business, church, municipal or school facility.
In addition, the BZA also agreed to grant variances that will allow the new owners to have an 80-foot square monument sign and for the building to only have a 12-foot setback.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.