After conducting multiple decibel tests outside the Willoughby, Ohio club, the Willoughby Planning Commission unanimously approved the plans, with restrictions on times of day and year, as well as the type of gun allowed, with a review planned at the end of the first season.
The Willoughby (Ohio) Planning Commission unanimously approved plans for a skeet shooting range at the Kirtland Country Club, the Willoughby-based News-Herald reported.
After commission member Charles Cox had asked for a more scientific method of measuring noise levels at the previous planning meeting, the club enlisted help from HZW Environmental Consultants in Mentor. The environmental consultants ran decibel tests in 3 locations, on Markell Road, Sherwin Road and the Kirtland Tudors off Kirtland Road, the News-Herald reported.
Joan Sablar of HZW Environmental Consultants explained that they ran 1-minute tests to gauge the background noise levels in the areas with and without shooting occurring. Without any shooting, the decibel level in the area was 50.6. With shooting, all three locations remained at the same decibel levels. Sablar said that these tests are relative to the hearing of a normal, healthy individual, the News-Herald reported.
The guns used for the test were 12-gauge shotguns, the highest noise level guns that Kirtland Country Club will be using at its skeet shooting range. The club will also allow 20-gauge and 28-gauge shotguns. The planning commission compared these findings with Ohio regulations for noise levels at skeet shooting ranges, which require that noise levels do not exceed 80 decibels at the property line, the News-Herald reported.
Sablar also noted that there will be a discernible pop to neighbors of the country club, but nothing that would impede having a conversation with someone at normal speaking levels. The planning commission toured the site of the shooting range before the meeting and stood in surrounding areas to listen for the pop of the guns. Cox went to the home of concerned neighbors living on Sherman Road, the News-Herald reported.
“We heard one bang when we were outside, but it wasn’t tremendous and nothing inside the house,” he said.
Cox seemed more satisfied with the noise level tests this time around, saying that he would have had a difficult time objecting. However, Cox stipulated that he would like to see a review occur at the end of the first skeet shooting season, due to sounds changes once the trees have no leaves, the News-Herald reported.
The conditions for the club to open its shooting range include:
• It will only run Nov. 1 to March 31
• The club will only shoot on Saturdays and Sundays
• On Saturdays, the club will only shoot between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• On Sundays, the club will shoot between noon and 4 p.m.
• The club will not shoot any shotguns louder than a 12-gauge shotgun
• The club will come back for a review at the end of the season, after March 31
Club President Frank Floyd added that the club plans to create a berm perimeter on the north side of the shooting range, directing the noise south toward Kirtland and away from the Kirtland Tudors development. Floyd ended by saying that the club is trying to be the best neighbors they can be to families in the area, the News-Herald reported.
“We want to protect the values of their properties,” Floyd said.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.