(9/29) The Liberty Township Board of Appeals denied a private use shooting range to be located adjacent to Waynesboro Pike Wednesday.
Shooting ranges are a permitted use in township conservation districts, however they must be 1,000 feet from existing residential dwellings and in undeveloped areas of the township.
Thurmont resident Kirby Delauter had request a special exception from the 1,000 feet requirement, instead asking for a 500 foot setback, to allow him to install a range on a 14-acre property is located south of Waynesboro Pike and right along the Mason Dixon Line.
12 of the 14 acres of the property are densely wooded and the proposed range was to be located in the center, low point of the property, roughly 500-600 feet from existing adjoining residences , the applicant stated the slope, and the topography would provide greater affordability of safety.
Delauter’s sketch of the range detailed a 10 feet high and ten feet wide berm sloping on either side with four-foot straw bales on top. Delauter’s said the range would be for personal handgun use only, primarily on the weekends.
The Liberty Township Board of Supervisors received the application for the range September 6, and it was reviewed by the Planning Commission September 20. Other than the special exception for 500 feet, the application met all other criteria, and the planning commission had no objections, according to Board of Supervisor Chairman Walter "Mickey" Barlow.
Concerned citizens turned out to voice concerns regarding the proposed shooting range, seeking denial of the application based on the close proximity to nearby dwellings. Neighboring property owners presented testimony against the range stating concerns of noise, surrounding property value depletion, and what, other than Delauter’s word, would keep the range from potentially becoming public.
The gun range project would not have required public water or sewer and the area would be secured through a metal locked gate at the access road, according to Delauter. Original plans to develop a home on the property were halted due to rising interest rates, he said.
Delauter also recently withdrew a request to the Town of Emmitsburg Planning and Zoning Board for a text change in current allowable use of land in the town industrial zone.
