A rezoning request that would have cleared the way for housing on a portion of the former Carolina Shores Golf & Country Club was denied this week.
But property owner Philippe Bureau says he is not deterred, and still plans to sell the property to a developer who intends to create a residential development under the existing zoning.
The Carolina Shores Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 on Monday, Feb. 9 to deny a request to rezone the property for a proposed redevelopment that would include 119 homes, extensive stormwater facilitation and other amenities.
Bureau said his next proposal will feature slightly fewer houses but will take up a larger percentage of the approximate 150-acre property, and won’t have the same amount of stormwater mitigation.
The requested rezoning would have changed the land from a Conservation Recreation District (CRD) to Planned Residential District (PRD). Housing is still conditionally allowed under the CRD.
“We’re certainly disappointed by the vote,” Bureau said. “We thought we had given them a very good plan that would have assisted the town. They chose not to accept our rezoning. So by right we have the ability to develop our one-acre lots and we’ll do that moving forward.”
Bureau operated the course for 13 years and closed it in November 2024, citing its financial struggles.
The 6,755-yard Tom Jackson design opened in 1974 and has been the centerpiece of the small town of Carolina Shores, N.C., which was founded in 1998 when it split from Calabash, N.C.
The proposed plan
The redevelopment proposal – the second brought to the town by Bureau and denied – called for 119 one-story single-family homes on about 25% of the property, which would primarily be contained between the clubhouse and portions of holes 9, 10, 14 and 18, Bureau said.
Proposed neighborhood features included a pool, amenity center, pickleball court, and open space.
Bureau said the project also called for significant work on stormwater drainage done in concert with Brunswick County to mitigate flooding issues in the area, and included 19 retention ponds.
The new homeowners association would have been responsible for maintaining the ponds and stormwater system once completed.
The Carolina Shores Planning Board voted in January to not recommend project approval by the board, saying the project was not consistent with the town’s Land Use Compatibility
goals within the Land Use Plan.
Proposed developer Mike Matheny, who owned the golf course prior to Bureau, has partnered with G3 Engineering and Surveying to develop the property.
Housing can be conditionally built within the current CRD zoning, according to the town’s code of ordinances, which reads: “Conservation zoning may be incorporated into surrounding developments. Large lot zoning for single-family residential development is conditionally allowed as an effective way to preserve natural and community open space resources.”
The current zoning allows for a minimum of one lot per acre, which is fairly large for a residential development.
Bureau said he has a letter of intent with Ryan Homes to build the houses, with contingencies for both the requested zoning and existing zoning. Under the existing zoning, the redevelopment plan calls for 106 houses on one-acre lots, he said.
“After the rezoning meeting [Ryan Homes] said they would enact the one-acre lots,” Bureau said. “So we’ve already got it sold and now we just have to get the site plan approved and we’ll move forward . . . with no stormwater, other than what’s required for the new property itself. But there’s nothing for the town to help them with their water issues.”
Bureau said he intends to submit the new redevelopment plan to the town in April.
“If we cross our Ts and dot our Is, we’ll have it passed the first week of April,” Bureau said. “With an outcry of a small minority of the residents, the town council does not seem interested in approving any plan that they’re not required to.”
In their denial, town board members cited concern that the proposal did not comply with the town’s Coastal Area Management Act Land Use Plan.
Bureau, Matheny and representatives of G3 have held multiple open public meetings to share the plan and answer questions.
Resident objections
Many Carolina Shores residents have rallied against the proposed redevelopment, and filled the Carolina Shores town hall for the board vote Monday.
Residents have shared concerns about stormwater, infrastructure, public safety and possible property value decreases, and many who are against the redevelopment are organized through the Carolina Shores Residents’ Liaison Committee.
Carolina Shores G&CC had been an inexpensive local course with its primary customers being members and area residents. Its clubhouse included a pro shop and bar & grill that was open to the public. The property includes a pool and tennis courts that are owned and operated by the community POA.
Bureau has been in the Myrtle Beach golf market for more than two decades and took over Carolina Shores in 2011 after being director of golf at the four-course Ocean Ridge Plantation from 2005-08. He made initial improvements to the course and clubhouse when he took over.
A dwindling market
Carolina Shores is the latest of nine-plus courses to close in Brunswick County over the past 24 years.
The others include Marsh Harbour Golf Links (early 2000s), Ocean Harbour Golf Links (early 2000s), Ocean Isle Beach Golf Course (2005), two 18-hole courses at Angels Trace Golf Links (2006), Calabash Golf Links (2010), Brierwood Golf Club (2017) and Farmstead Golf Links (2021), which had holes in both North Carolina and South Carolina. Additionally, nine of 36 holes at The Pearl Golf Links closed in 2020.
Angels Trace was expected to be turned into the fifth course at Ocean Ridge Plantation, and though nine holes were designed and cleared, the course was never fully built.
