Centerton gun range seeks extended hours

BENTONVILLE -- Some Centerton area residents are concerned over a request to expand operation hours at a shooting range near their homes, just three years after it was approved with limited hours for shooting.

The request from Lonesome Oak Guns & Range at 2106 W. Centerton Blvd. is on the agenda for the Benton County Planning Board's Technical Advisory Committee meeting that follows a public hearing at 6 p.m. tonight.

County Planning

The Benton County Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of every month in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.

Source: Staff Report

The county approved the operation of the Nighthawk Custom Training Academy in 2012 after an initial denial by the Planning Board was appealed to the county. Many neighbors opposed the shooting range during a public hearing.

The appeals board granted the permit.

The appeals panel -- justices of the peace Kurt Moore, Patrick Carr and Joel Jones -- unanimously approved a plan requiring the operation to conform to National Rifle Association guidelines regarding safety berms surrounding the shooting area; to work with the Planning Department to plan a noise buffer; satisfy county requirements for emergency access to the site, follow a plan for lead abatement and limit shooting hours to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The business has changed its name to the Lonesome Oak Guns & Range, according to the request for expanded hours. Kathy Kinyon, applicant, asks hours be set from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for members and from 7 a.m. to midnight for law enforcement agencies.

"Throughout the years at this approved development we see the need to extend the hours for recreational shooting for future members to shoot after work, which basically means after 5 p.m.," Kinyon said in her letter.

Kinyon said the range is used by officers from several area law enforcement agencies -- listing the Benton County Sheriff's Office, prosecuting attorney's office and Springdale Police Department's SWAT team -- and those agencies have indicated a need for nighttime training hours.

Keshia Guyll with the Sheriff's Office said the agency uses the Quail Unlimited range for most of its training. The sheriff's SWAT team used the Centerton range at least once, but not on a regular basis, Guyll said. Springdale police Lt. Scott Lewis said that department's SWAT team has trained at the Centerton range in the past.

Kathy Schlegel, who lives adjacent to the Centerton gun range, said she's concerned by the request.

"It's just gut-wrenching," she said, adding she and other neighbors plan to attend tonight's meeting. "We'll be there to listen to the proposal and decide what we'll do next."

John Sudduth, the county's general services administrator, oversees the Planning Department. The Planning Board allows public comments on any matter during the public hearing phase of its meetings, but not during the Technical Advisory Committee portion, Sudduth said. Once a request goes through the committee phase, it is scheduled for a public hearing, Sudduth said.

"The [committee] meeting is where people present their project and gain information from board members," Sudduth said. "Then it will go to a public hearing in two weeks. That's our normal schedule."

Sudduth also said the Planning Department contacts other agencies that might have an interest in a project. For the gun range, he said, the county contacted Centerton. That city's planning director, Lorene Burns, cited residents' concerns for safety and noise in a report to the county. Burns said in the report the extended hours "seem excessive for a seven-day operation" and recommended the extension be denied.

Bob Bland, another neighbor who opposed the gun range when it was first proposed, said he's disappointed it may be able to change the terms of the appeals board's decision.

"We figured it was a done deal," Bland said. "We're totally shocked to hear they're coming back to the county. It's very frustrating that we're going to have to go through this whole thing again."

NW News on 05/06/2015

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