The 20-foot-plus-tall hedges that border the Capital City Club (CCC) golf course were not always the mainstay of the neighborhood that they are today. In fact, when the neighborhood applied to be part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 the hedges were just tiny plants spaced between concrete columns that connected chains to create fencing on the perimeter of the CCC property.

 

The fence was installed as a security measure in 1984. “We had a problem with teenagers doing wheelies on the green,” says Jim Letson, a CCC member and neighbor who has lived across from the club on West Brookhaven Drive since 1976.

 

The hedge was planted in 1985. At that point in time, the golf course and clubhouse were visible from the road and across the street all along East Brookhaven, Brookhaven, and West Brookhaven Drives and from East and West Club Lanes.

 

Since then the hedges have not only grown significantly taller, but in most places, they are also much wider. Through the years, a few neighbors have taken it upon themselves to trim the hedges, but in 2011 CCC’s then-president Carl Westmoreland sent a letter to immediate neighbors reminding them this was not permitted and asking them to contact the CCC director of grounds for assistance instead.

 

Last year, a few neighbors, including Jim, as well as a small group of Historic Brookhaven Neighborhood Association board members approached the club about trimming the hedges because of safety concerns. They say it is difficult for vehicles passing a parked car or truck to see oncoming traffic or joggers, particularly around the curves on West Brookhaven Drive.