SAY NO TO REZONING - STOP MARTIN CEMETERY ROAD OUTDOOR SHOOTING RANGE!

Dear Commissioner(s):

Below is a copy of our "PETITION AGAINST MARTIN CEMETERY ROAD OUTDOOR SHOOTING RANGE". Details on citizens who signed and support this petition, along with many of their comments, are included:

TO: Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission and Carroll County Board of Commissioners

John I. Paulk Jr., is proposing to build an Outdoor Shooting Range and 300 Person Capacity Event Center / Lodge (Project name: Shot Spot LLC Phase II) on Martin Cemetery Road, just South of Hwy 166 and West of Hays Mill Road. The proposed outdoor range will include Skeet Shooting, Sporting Clays Shooting, and Trap Shooting. The developer has indicated the outdoor range will be open from 10am-8pm Monday through Saturday and from 1pm-6pm on Sundays. The range will contain 13-15 Sporting Clay Stations, a Skeet Range and Trap Range.

The application fails to indicate the number of shooters per day, but, based on typical Sporting Clays Events, it is possible there will be 100-200 shooters a day. A typical round of clays consists of 100-125 shots per man yielding a possible 20,000 shots per day over a 10 hour day. This will result in ongoing, abrupt, and impulse noise pollution for long distances surrounding the development. 

The proposed development borders or is in close proximity to hundreds of homes, as well as schools, churches, businesses, Sunset Hills Golf Club, the Carrollton Greenbelt and the new Carroll County Development Authority’s Technology Park (all within a 2-mile radius). [CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2-MILE RADIUS MAP]

This petition opposes the project on the following basis:

1. Potential ongoing, abrupt, and impulse noise pollution and increased traffic will harm the surrounding business community, public areas and private homes. Also, due to constant gunfire, there is a strong possibility of negative impacts to surrounding property values, the environment, ground water, wildlife and the quiet enjoyment of personal property owned by local residents. 

2. The requirement to re-zone 6 acres from Agricultural to Commercial and granting a Conditional Use Permit for the remaining 158.03 acres will set a precedence for all other Agricultural lands (Districts) in Carroll County to be rezoned for similar uses (or worse uses) such as the outdoor shooting range proposed. Currently, a Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays Shooting Range is not listed as an approved use for Agricultural Lands in Carroll County.

3. Potential traffic related to the proposed 300 Person Event Center / Lodge creates a threat to the community's safety. Concentrated traffic entering and leaving large events could cause dangerous traffic impacts at Hays Mill and Bonner Road where both intersections do not currently include Traffic Lights or proper turning lanes. 

** PLEASE NOTE – it has been construed that opposition to this development is based on people who do not like guns. This is not true as many of the opposing homeowners are avid shooting enthusiasts. This petition is not in opposition to gun ownership or shooting sports, it is in opposition to the proposed project at the proposed location.

We, the undersigned, call on the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission and the Carroll County Board of Commissioners to deny the above-mentioned applications in their entirety.

For more information, see this website (related documents and maps) or contact buffalo.creek4@gmail.com