Winfield residents say noise at Klein Creek golf course making life rough

Living in a golf course community is just what one would expect.

The Winfield neighborhood surrounded by Klein Creek Golf Club has beautiful homes with stunning views of finely manicured greens and fairways, says Tony Pisciotti, president of the Klein Creek Homeowners Association.

And during the months that golf can be played, there's the pre-dawn sounds of lawn mowers as groundskeepers maintain the golf course.

So why did Winfield experience a noticeable spike in noise complaint calls from residents living near the course in 2009? As village officials have learned, there might be more than lawn mowers disrupting the neighborhood's usual serenity. John Weiss, who bought Klein Creek Golf Club a year ago, is seeking a revision to Winfield's noise ordinance that would make the golf course's landscaping operation exempt from local law.

"We take a lot of pride in the golf course," said Weiss, adding that proper maintenance includes mowing before dawn.

Still, Winfield's village code states noise from landscaping equipment can't start until 7 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends.

Last year, numerous complaints were made about violations of that code, many by anonymous callers. As a result, the course received seven citations and three warnings. In previous years, there weren't any complaints filed against the course, officials said.

In terms of when the grass gets cut, Pisciotti says nothing has changed in the 13 years he has lived next to the golf course.

"They are doing the normal maintenance to get the course in play," he said. "They are not out there sawing trees down and digging holes."

But during last week's village board meeting, there was speculation the noise complaints had more to do with Weiss' decision to prohibit non-golfing neighbors from strolling the course.

For years, the previous owner let Klein Creek homeowners stroll or jog on the cart paths during the evening hours. Pisciotti said some people went as far as letting their kids use the course as a park.

"When the signs went up, they sort of took offense to it," he said.

Weiss, who also is in the insurance business, said he made the change for liability reasons.

"Ponds and kids and golfers, it concerns me," he said, adding some people would walk around the course with their children while golfers were still playing.

While the Winfield village board is considering possible changes to the noise law, Trustee Glenn VadeBonCoeur said: "Perhaps we have a situation here where we just have new neighbors learning to get along each other more than anything else."

Weiss said golf course representatives are trying to work with the neighbors who didn't file anonymous complaints. In order to contact everyone else, he is reaching out to the homeowners association.

In the end, Pisciotti said improving the relationship between the homeowners and the golf course benefits everyone.

"A formal change to the local ordinance isn't really necessary if we could just foster a better relationship between the golf course and the homeowners association," he said. "They want to have a prosperous, good-running business. And we want to have a nice neighborhood."