Country clubs, churches and private schools have been keeping the Greenwich Planning & Zoning commission busy.
Typically all operate as non profits and are tax exempt.
While churches with revenue struggles have submitted proposals to P&Z to rent space to commercial groups at market rate rents rather than to non-profits at reduced rents, orivate schools and country clubs have sought to expand and upgrade amenities to the meet expectations of families.
At their June 23 meeting (viewable on GCTV via Youtube), the P&Z commission approved a 45 x 62 foot fabric covered structure to store maintenance equipment at Burning Tree Country Club on the off season. The structure will be situated to the west of tee #12.
The structure had already been erected atop a perimeter foundation of concrete blocks.
June 23, 2026 P&Z commission meeting.
After a neighbor complained to P&Z, the structure was disassembled while the club went before the commission seeking what P&Z chair referred to as amnesty.
Engineer Tony D’Andrea said there were about three residential properties that would have a view of the structure when leaves are off the trees.
The golf course takes up the majority of the club’s 158 acres. There is also a club house, tennis and paddle courts, tennis building, paddle tennis building, swimming pool and pool building, two pavilions and related decks and patios, driveway, parking lot and other accessory structures related to the club use.
By way of background, the club has had several applications approved and one zoning board of appeals approval:
In 2025, P&Z approved renovation of the pool building, pool, splash pad, pavilions and paddle hut.
In 2021, P&Z approved construction of an additional paddle court.
In 2020 P&Z approved continued use of a turf fan in a new location
In 2015 the commission approved installation of a seasonal bubble over existing tennis courts, relocation of court lighting and revision to a parking area.
In 2008 the commission approved construction of a new singles and new doubles tennis court, with lights, near the existing pool adjacent to the platform tennis courts.
Burning Tree Country club is located on Perkins Rd the AE and X Flood and residential RA2 zone. Pictured is fabric covered structure in 2025.
February 2026 the storage structure was disassembled.
As for the the fabric covered storage structure, Greenwich’s Conservation Dept had concern about the potential storage of chemicals, fuels, lubricants, fertilizers, pesticides and other potentially harmful substances.
The P&Z commission had concerns about neighbors having to look at the structure.
Also they worried about the possibility of wildlife entering and inhabiting structure, which will be open at one end.
P&Z chair Margarita Alban asked Steve Wickstrom, golf course superintendent, to consider fully enclosing the structure.
In response to a previous request from the commission, the applicant detailed what will be stored in the structure:
The site of the storage structure is used for temporary stockpiling of mulch, grass clipping and tree
branches. The materials are processed for reuse throughout the course or removed from the site. The
proposed storage structure would store:
• Two (2) plow blades
• Four (4) snow blowers
• Three (3) leaf collection machines, only used in the fall
• Two (2) back-up spare mowers
• Leaf blowers
• Aeration equipment – typically used two times each year
• A spare tractor
The motion to approve the application noted the club will install a 150-foot row of green giant arbor vitae at the top of the steep slope to the south of flagged wetlands.
A boulder demarcation line will be established between the arbor vitae and the storage structure.
A rain garden will be created to the south east of the storage structure to meet the drainage manual requirements for the proposed increase in runoff.
The applicant will take measures to discourage wildlife occupancy and ensure stored materials do not create hazards for wildlife or contribute the environmental contamination.
The motion included was a whereas clause that the applicant has asserted no chemicals or fuel will be stored in the structure and no additional vehicular traffic will utilize the site in the future.
Conditions of approval include that the applicant consider fully enclosing the structure to prevent wildlife intrusion and work with wetlands and/or conservation to ensure there is no fuel or or oil leakage from stored equipment.
Unanimous vote to approve with conditions: 5-0 with Alban, Macri, Lowe, Yeskey, and Welles seated.
Pickleball: Possible Zoning and Noise Ordinance Violations
And while the pickleball was not part of the application on June 23, Alban said it might violate constitute a zoning violation because the club was approved for tennis and paddleball, not pickleball.
Further Ms Alban said neighbors had voiced concerns about noise from pickleball, which might represent a violation the town’s noise ordinance.
Today, the noise ordinance falls under the purview of the Board of Selectmen. That happened after the Greenwich Board of Health repealed the town noise ordinance in 2023 after a kerfuffle over proposed restrictions on gas leaf blowers.
Without a noise ordinance, the town automatically became subject to a much more lenient Connecticut noise law. Ultimately, the Greenwich Board of Selectmen and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) stepped in to reinstate local noise regulations, putting the ordinance under the purview of the Selectmen.
Attorney for the club John Tesei said the club started using their courts for pickleball about nine years earlier.
“We’ll look into sound attenuation,” he said. “We have to get them in compliance with the noise ordinance…There was no bad faith in starting pickleball, just like all other clubs – I know there are three or four other clubs that are using tennis courts or paddle courts – and there were more before others obtained specific approvals for their pickleball.”
“It’s just something that kind of happened and we know of the noise factor and take it seriously,” Tesei added.
On the topic of use of courts for pickleball at Burning Tree Club, Alban said, “We would ask that this be pursued separately. The club is acting outside of its decision letter from us.”