The Willoughby, Ohio club’s conditional-use permit for skeet-shooting is scheduled to be reviewed this spring, but residents have begun filing complaints about the noise, saying it’s disruptive and scaring animals. The club said it is continuing to conduct sound tests and is complying with all regulations.
The Planning Commission in Willoughby, Ohio will review Kirtland Country Club’s skeet-shooting permit this spring, but that’s not soon enough for some residents in a neighboring community, the Willoughby-based News-Herald reported.
John Pshock is among those complaining about the shooting noise coming from the club, which sits within Willoughby’s borders. “It’s (affecting) my whole neighborhood,” Pshock said. “It’s very loud; animals are scared.”
The commission unanimously granted the club a conditional-use permit for the activity in July, after touring the site and listening in various areas. In addition, the Commission was provided test results from club-hired HzW Environmental Consultants, the News-Herald reported.
Results on nearby roads indicated that the background noise levels, roughly 50 decibels, were largely unchanged by the gunshots. The commission compared these findings with Ohio regulations for noise at skeet shooting ranges, which require that they not exceed 80 decibels at the property line, the News-Herald reported.
However, Commission member Charles Cox requested a stipulation that the permit be reviewed at the end of the skeet-shooting season (November 1 through March 31) because the testing was done when there were leaves on the trees, the News-Herald reported.
“We heard one bang when we were outside, but it wasn’t tremendous and nothing inside the house,” Cox said in July, about the noise at the home of concerned residents on Sherman. The commission also required that the shooting only occur 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 Sundays, and no guns louder than a 12-gauge shotgun be allowed, the News-Herald reported.
“I’ve had people say they’ve heard it as far as Route 6 and 306,” said Kirtland Ward 1 Councilman Kevin Potter. “That’s at the south end of town and this is taking place at the north end of town. It’s a big valley, so it’s reverberating through the valley.”
Mark D. Petzing said the club is responding to the noise concerns. “Extensive scientific sound tests have recently been conducted by qualified, independent sound engineers—both indoors and outdoors—at multiple locations, including along our property lines and within adjacent neighborhoods,” he said. “Preliminary results indicate no major changes from earlier tests, but we expect to receive actual results in the near future. The Kirtland Country Club is committed to complying with all regulations and will continue to do so.”
Neither Kirtland nor Willoughby has an ordinance with parameters for restricting decibel levels. Kirtland’s noise ordinance says “no person shall unreasonably make, continue or cause to be made, continued or permitted, any noise disturbance by any of the following means…using or firing of explosives, firearms or similar devices which create impulsive sound so as to cause a noise disturbance across a residential real property boundary line or on a public space or right-of-way.”
Kirtland Mayor Doug Davidson said he met with the club president multiple times and now is directing residents to express their issues to Willoughby Planning Commission members. “It’s complicated,” he said. “We have a noise disturbance ordinance, but because it’s (happening) in the city of Willoughby, I can’t and won’t send my officers over into Willoughby to enforce an ordinance.”
Willoughby Mayor David Anderson anticipates that the commission will review the permit in May because some members will be unavailable to meet in April, the News-Herald reported.
“We will notify Kirtland’s officials when this is scheduled, so Kirtland residents may attend and voice their concerns,” he said.
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