Dispute continues to fire up over Sale Creek shooting range

The legality of a special permit issued to former Red Bank Police Chief Ronnie Dodd which allowed him to open a shooting range on his property in Sale Creek is being disputed in Chancery Court at the request of Dodd's neighbors.

Judge Jeff Atherton said he needed more time to make his decision after both sides presented their cases Nov. 28.

Neighbors including Tim and Renee Grace and Carl Lindquvist, who hired attorneys Eric Oliver and Jamie Hurst to take Dodd to court, said they were not given adequate notice prior to the hearing in which the special permit was granted in April 2008.

Oliver stated that the notice provided to residents was for a hearing of the county Board of Zoning Appeals on granting Dodd a special permit to use his property for "low intensity outdoor use." He argued this is not an adequate description for a shooting range in which courses are held involving AK-47s and "Dirty Harry" 44 magnums for which students are asked to bring 300 rounds.

He also argued the BZA overstepped its legal boundaries in issuing the permit.

"Giving him a permit for a shooting range substantially affects the use of the land," said Oliver.

Dodd's attorney Arnold Stulce addressed the question of what constitutes adequate notice.

"[The notice] doesn't have to say how [the land] is affected, just that it's affected," he said.

Stulce said the BZA's actions did not constitute the making of a new law.

"The Board of Zoning Appeals simply executed a law that was already in existence," he said.

Stulce stated that Dodd had gone through all necessary processes to obtain the permit, including giving clear and appropriate notice 60 days prior to the BZA hearing when it was granted on April 9, 2008.

Oliver said six of Dodd's neighbors called the BZA office prior to the hearing to ask the meaning of "low intensity outdoor use," which staff could not tell them.

"Low intensity outdoor use is simply not a fair description of a shooting range," he said, adding if "shooting range" had been in the notice instead, more neighbors would have showed up for the hearing in 2008.

Atherton questioned how neighbors did not notice a shooting range was being constructed nearby.

"You can't see it from the road; his house blocks the range," said adjoining neighbor Sandra King after the Chancery Court hearing. "I just don't understand how a shooting range can be sandwiched in the middle of a residential area."

Upcoming Events