BENTONVILLE -- Benton County planners on Wednesday rejected a request to allow nighttime shooting at a gun range near Centerton.
The Planning Board voted unanimously to deny a request for extended hours of operation at the Lonesome Oak Guns & Range at 2106 W. Centerton Blvd. The request was the subject of a public hearing Wednesday after being reviewed by the Board's Technical Advisory Committee on May 6.
Planning Appeals Board
Benton County approved the operation of the Nighthawk Custom Training Academy in 2012 after an initial denial by the Planning Board was appealed. The county’s appeals panel 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 county’s planning staff reported earlier this month that those stipulations have been met.
Source: Staff report
The business changed names at the end of 2014, according to Kathleen Kinyon, who applied for the extended hours. The business is seeking to extend its hours to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for members and from 7 a.m. to midnight for law enforcement agencies.
Kinyon said during the initial review the gun 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.
Sheriff Kelley Cradduck said that the Sheriff's Office needs a location for the nighttime training.
"For law enforcement, you fight how you train," Cradduck said. "Most law enforcement officers who have been in the business any amount of time would agree with that. I do want these people to have a good quality of life. That being said, nighttime training is so different. Most shootings do occur at night."
Cradduck said he thought the law enforcement training could be arranged to minimize the disruption for neighbors. He offered to meet with area residents to discuss ways to reach some agreement all could support.
"We're always looking for ways to compromise," he said.
Two of the justices of the peace who served on the appeals boards that approved the gun range in 2012 both spoke in favor of some compromise.
Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7, said shooting until sunset in July and August "is completely out of line."
"To hear gunshots that late at night, I'm calling the sheriff," Jones said.
Moore also said the extended hours were unreasonable and suggested some compromise, including some extended hours during part of the year, possibly from March to October, and keep the currently limited hours the rest of the year.
"If Nighthawk had not been willing to compromise with the neighbors, I would never have voted for it," Moore said. "I'm in favor of some expanded hours as long as they're reasonable. 10 p.m. is not reasonable."
Skye Petty, a Centerton alderman, and Brian Rabel, Centerton's city attorney, both spoke against the extended hours. Petty said he seldom receives calls on topics coming before the council but has received "untold numbers of calls on this event tonight, all opposed to the extended hours."
Rabel said there are plans for a nursing home and an assisted-living facility nearby, along with a planned housing subdivision. He said he was asked to convey the opposition of the city's mayor, city council and planning board to the extended hours.
Gary Hawks, who said his residence is about 1,000 yards from the gun range, said neighbors deserve some consideration.
"These people who spoke in favor of it, you haven't heard one of them say they'd live by it," Hawk said. "We have to live with it."
Tim Schlegel who lives adjacent to the gun range with his wife, Kathy, said the shooting goes on all day as it is and the extended hours should be denied before they make the problem worse.
"When you dig a hole and you've gone too deep, you throw that shovel away," he said.
Kinyon said immediately after the meeting she didn't plan to file an appeal of the board's decision.
NW News on 05/21/2015