Gun range proposals move to commissioners
Neighbors have concerns about noise, traffic and stray shots
Operators of a Lake County gun range say they aim to be good neighbors though the unpermitted commercial enterprise recently prompted state authorities to close an adjoining nature preserve for fear of bullets flying off the range.
An inspection of a popular hiking and bird-watching area next to the Treasure Island Range found stray gunfire had damaged 56 trees, according to a letter submitted to the Lake County Planning & Zoning Board by an attorney for the St. Johns River Water Management District, which oversees
the Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area.
“Treasure Island Range, as built, is incompatible with public use of the Conservation Area,” St. Johns attorney William Abrams said in the letter. “It is closed to ensure public safety because of the amount of live fire that escapes the (gun range) property and enters the Conservation Area.”
Lake’s zoning board listened to hours of debate this week about guns — both real and toy ones — as they weighed separate controversial zoning requests, one by the Treasure Island Range near Leesburg and another sought by cattle rancher and street-corner preacher Juan Adriatico, who stages simulated “war games” with Airsoft guns on his 160-acre spread in northeast Lake County.
In the end, both received endorsements — the gun range on a 3-1 vote and the Airsoft range by a 7-0 vote. Lake County commissioners have the final say and are expected to take up the proposals Feb. 26. If approved by commissioners, Adriatico would need to then obtain a conditional use permit.
The Treasure Island Range is opposed by neighbors worried about real guns firing real bullets and causing real problems for a community better known for chirping birds and croaking bull gators and frogs.
Neighbors pleaded with the zoning board to reject the range owner’s request for a conditional use permit that would allow the training range to operate legally and stage up to four annual special events with more than 500 attendees — most with guns.
In emails and in-person appeals to the zoning board, the neighbors complained of house-shaking, window-breaking explosions, constant rat-a-tat gunfire and a parade of traffic that spoils the quiet of weekend afternoons in the country.
Resident Alan Chen put together a lengthy PowerPoint presentation, raising safety questions and challenging the wisdom of allowing a commercial gun range in the neighborhood.
One slide asked: “Do we really want paramilitary operations to occur in our backyards? Dangerous and reckless!”
Many neighbors are not only members of the National Rifle Association but also hold licenses to carry concealed weapons.
Richard Crews, who lives on a dead-end street half a mile from the range, said guns aren’t the issue for him.
“For many years, you could sit and enjoy my yard on a Saturday morning and you may never see a car pass by,” he said. “Now most Saturdays and Sundays I awake at daylight to the constant flow of traffic past my house.”
Owners of the range, who operate under the name Ares Firearm Training, contend the county is prohibited by state law from regulating use of the property as a shooting range but agreed to seek a conditional use permit to resolve the disagreement.
Range attorney Brett Spain said the owners are trying to be considerate by addressing the community’s concerns.
If granted the permit, range operators promise to fortify and raise protective berms, shorten hours of operation and eliminate objectionable and unusual elements of previous events, some of which have featured helicopters and flamethrowers, according to neighbors.
“One of the things we want to make very, very, very, very clear is that what happened in the past is not happening in the future,” said Greg Beliveau, a planner representing the John P. Wilkerson Living Trust, which is listed as owner of the 99-acre property. “We’re not going to blow up anything.” Lisa Hayden, who spoke out against the range, said she’s evaluating the owners’ concessions cautiously, saying their position seems to suggest “we’re supposed to forget the past and trust in the future.”
Not all neighbors oppose the range.
While many decried the sound of gunfire as annoying and intrusive noise, retired military veteran Jim Tyrpin, a second-amendment defender, interpreted it differently.
“I call that the sound of freedom,” he said.
The other skirmish involves Airsoft guns that, while realistic in appearance, fire plastic BBs. The pellets are not lethal — and often don’t leave a mark.
Neighbors objected to Adriatico’s business Raptor Airsoft, saying it brings unwanted crowds of players and does not belong in an agricultural area.
Supporters promoted the Airsoft operation as a fun and sporting diversion that gets kids away from video game consoles.
“We do it for family togetherness,” said Jamy Young, 42, of Umatilla, a mom who spoke in favor of Adriatico’s request, the first step in a plan to turn the cow pastures into battlefields. “We go out there and just have a good time together.”
Warned in November by Lake County code enforcement that his business was operating illegally under zoning rules, Adriatico has racked up $8,900 in fines at $100 a day, the impetus for his zoning request.
Adriatico’s daughter and business partner, Alcira Samson, described the business on Fullerville Road near Lake Mack as a “Christian, familyfriendly environment.”
She said the family has the right to shoot real guns on their property but doesn’t mix real weapons with the toy ones.