Forest Lake neighbors revolt against converting tranquil residential setting into any kind of commercial development
The long-anticipated – and by some neighbors, dreaded – plans of John Burton for his home and property at 4672 Forest Lake Drive in Mebane appear to be taking final shape.
What neighbors had originally opposed as a potential “event center,” Burton has now formalized as a potential “country club” – albeit without the accompanying golf course.
Burton bought the house, formerly owned by Tommy Stephens, the owner of Tommy’s Mini Mart in Mebane, about one year ago, on October 10, 2023, for $1.9 million.
The purchase included both 10.9 acres of land, on which the house is located (facing Forest Lake Drive with waterfront access to the lake), as well as the entirety of Forest Lake itself, around which another dozen or so homes are located. The lake itself is listed on Alamance County tax records as being 10-19 acres.
The Forest Lake subdivision is a bit of an anomaly. While often considered or referred to as part of Mebane, it is actually an unincorporated area (sort of a “donut” hole in the middle of the municipality); it is thus in Mebane’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Consequently, it is subject to the city’s zoning, but property owners don’t pay city taxes.
Soon after Burton purchased the property, he started making significant improvements and expansions to the 7,998 square-foot home; the house has three bedrooms and four full bathrooms, according to information on file with the county’s tax office, as well as three-car garage; he’s also added a grilling area off the back patio.
He proudly shows off the home, its freshly painted walls and ceilings, a large kitchen with marble counter-tops, a bar area overlooking the lake, and points with pride to a potential gazebo he wants to build on the edge of the lake.
In fact, in an interview with The Alamance News last week, Burton acknowledged that he had poured more than $2 million, so far, into up-fitting the house, adding a decorative fence along the property’s perimeter, and adding a spacious portico to the front of the house.
[Story continues below photos.]
He has more plans, if he can succeed in persuading Mebane officials to allow him to convert the home into what he tentatively calls the Burton Country Club, complete with a lakeside gazebo and restaurant, a swimming pool on one side of the house, as well as three indoor tennis and/or pickleball courts.
[Story continues below photos of future plans for Burton Country Club.]
The one typical feature of a country club missing from Burton’s plans is a golf course, but he says he’s in talks with one or more local clubs about having some form of cooperative relationship. “Ideally, we’re trying to partner with a local golf course.”
He thinks his future monthly fees of $250 to $350 per month would be very attractive compared to monthly charges of $600 to $800 charged for some golf course memberships. He believes there are hundreds of Mebane residents who would want to join his country club.
Burton’s plans, rumored originally to be an “event center” of some kind, drew neighborhood opposition, with signs popping up over the past six months or more along roads surrounding his home. These include prominent ones right next door to the entrance to his house, as well as at least two homeowners whose lakefront opposition can be viewed from his own lakefront dock.
See separate story on neighbors who are working to galvanize opposition to Burton’s commercial plans for his property: https://alamancenews.com/good-fences-neighbors-say-burton-not-sensitive-to-residents-their-concerns/
Burton knows that he must obtain the city council’s approval for rezoning the property, and he is optimistic about what he thinks will end up being a groundswell of support from the Mebane community that will persuade the council to grant its approval. (He has not yet filed any formal request for rezoning with the city.)
As to the objection that his proposed country club is in a residential area, Burton is quick to respond, “So is every other country club in the United States.”
Burton is confident that when people see the improvements he has made, and those he has planned, that they will support his efforts.
He held an open house two weekends ago – one that drew neighborhood complaints about traffic and noise. [See sidebar on neighbors’ objections.]
One he held in March did not succeed at winning over skeptical neighbors. In fact, while he held an event in March, he had not gotten back to them about his plans by a promised May 1 date, finally prompting an attorney’s letter (which he voluntarily shared with the newspaper) on September 5. He has another open house planned for November 24 between 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The lawyer said Burton had promised to let the neighbors know “your intentions for use of the property,” but had not done so. He also urged Burton to re-open “direct dialogue” with them “to avoid the types of misunderstandings that inevitably arise when there is no direction communication with the neighbors.”
Burton plans to cultivate support, and doesn’t seem too concerned about the initial neighborhood opposition. “I’m not going to the city council until I have my ducks in a row.”
Burton recognizes that he’s regarded as an “outsider.” While he’s long lived in Alamance County, it was not in Mebane, where many of his neighbors are lifelong residents. He doesn’t yet actually live in the house he has renovated on Forest Lake Drive; he owns houses in Gibsonville and Burlington.
“At the end of the day,” the citizens of Mebane will make the decision,” Burton says.
Mebane mayor Ed Hooks, however, is not very optimistic about Burton’s odds. While Mebane’s mayor does not vote except in case of ties, Hooks’ assessment is that the council is not likely to approve a rezoning for the newest iteration of Burton’s plans for the Forest Lake property.
Hooks said he did not think the repackaging of Burton’s plans as a country club, rather than event center, will make a difference. “I don’t think it changes anything,” he said.
“I don’t believe it will pass,” Hooks said in an interview with The Alamance News, “no matter what he calls it.”
And if it doesn’t, Burton says he is not too worried about that, either. “If [I don’t get the country club], I’ll have a nice place to live. I win either way.”
