Alpharetta to Vote on Golf Driving Range Entertainment Complex

Alpharetta City Council will hold a public hearing at City Hall today at 7:30 p.m. on a sports and entertainment complex off Westside Parkway that features a three-story golf driving range.

TopGolf USA plans the complex, which uses golf balls embedded with microchips to give customers immediate yardage and location feedback on a high definition touch screen in each hitting bay. TopGolf plans 94 hitting bays and a 4.29 acre outfield.

A variance is needed for a three story facility, which is necessary to include enough hitting bays to make the complex economically feasible. It will appear two stories tall from Westside Parkway due to the slope of the land.

A 64,100 square feet entertainment building is planned, which includes 4,616 square feet of restaurant and bar space, as well as eating areas in each driving bay. A full-service restaurant is planned for the complex, as are a rooftop terrace with lounge, corporate event space, a putting green and a 3.6 acre parking lot with 330 spaces.

In its application for conditional use for a golf driving range, TopGolf said that 60 percent of all users are between 18 and 40. One game takes about 15 minutes, and play costs from $3 per game and up.

Staff concluded in its report that the conditional use should not have an impact on the surrounding area. A restaurant and a recreational facility are permitted uses for the site.

The Alpharetta Planning Commission recommended approval for the use, adding conditions for landscape screening along Westside Parkway, shielding or screening of lights from public roads, a traffic study to determine intersection improvements at Sanctuary Parkway and a plan showing all required stream buffers.