DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997              TAG: 9704100385

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   43 lines

CHESAPEAKE PANEL OKS LAND REZONING FOR DESTINATION RESORT THE CITY COUNCIL NOW MUST APPROVE THE PROJECT PLANS FOR 157 HOMES.

The Planning Commission recommended rezoning almost 500 acres of mostly farmland Wednesday night, paving the way for a plan to create the largest residential-recreational planned development in the city.

The recommendation, which passed 8-1 with Vice Chairwoman Debbie Ritter voting against the measure, will still need the approval of the City Council.

The property's owner, Wallace G. Cahoon of Camden, N.C., wants to turn the rezoned land into Cahoon Plantation Estates - a destination resort with a mix of single-family homes, condominiums, retail stores and recreational facilities, according to plans submitted to the city.

This is really ``an economic development package, not a residential one,'' said Cahoon representative James R. Bradford at Wednesday's hearing.

A 36-hole, link-style golf course, an 18-hole par-3 golf course and a driving range with batting cages would fill most of the 473-acre site southeast of Dominion Boulevard and Cedar Road in Deep Creek borough. Alongside the private golf courses, which would be open to the public, Cahoon Plantation would include 157 custom-made homes valued between $200,000 and $250,000.

Tennis courts, swimming pools, a bowling alley and 500 condominium-style lodging units marketed as time-shares and rentals would round out the resort's amenities. Another 33 acres would be set aside for specialty retail and local neighborhood commercial uses.

Cahoon withdrew his original rezoning application from the City Council's consideration in January, even though it had received Planning Commission approval. The city's planning staff had recommended rejecting that plan because it would have exceeded the capacity of area schools and roads.

Cahoon developers presented their application to the commission last night as a planned unit development. Such developments, like the recently-approved Warrington Hall project, allow denser zoning in exchange for more efficient use of the land and preservation of open spaces. Critics have argued that the dense mixed zoning still places a burden on local roads and schools.

In other business, the commission also gave preliminary site plan approval to Wal-Mart for a 90,000-square-foot addition to its Battlefield Boulevard store near Interstate 64.

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