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Range opponents angered when moratorium fails
By Derek Hodges
A motion to adopt a moratorium on shooting range development died without a second during the Jackson County commissioners’ meeting Monday night (April 4).
Before the non-vote on the issue, commissioners got an earful from residents who support the moratorium, as well as from a few opposed to regulation.
The meeting was the sixth in which county officials spent time on the debate. The issue was first raised in November, when Caney Fork resident Sam Matthews requested commissioners enact a moratorium to allow time for an ordinance regulating ranges be written.
Matthews’ concern was triggered by Smoke Rise Field Club, which operated a shooting range in Cashiers until it lost its lease and began considering land near his home.
After discussion in November and December, commissioners decided not to act on the matter because it was believed the club no longer had an interest in relocating in the county.
Matthews said he was unconvinced that the range wouldn’t still be located in Jackson.
In late February, Tilley Creek resident Perry Eury learned that Matthews was in negotiations with Smoke Rise to sell them property he owns on Tilley Creek that’s known as the old Pressley farm. Eury requested the issue be put on the agenda at the commissioners’ first meeting in March and that the moratorium and ordinance again be a priority. That led to discussion of the issue at three more meetings, as well as at a session of Jackson County’s planning board, which would be in charge of drafting an ordinance.
Voices and emotions were raised on both sides as comments at the meetings brought applause from some and jeers from others.
At Monday night’s meeting 18 people took the speakers’ podium, most of them donning orange stickers to show their support of a moratorium.
Michelle Hopkins, whose property borders the proposed shooting range site, said she was concerned about her children and grandchildren growing up next to a range, a concern shared by several of the speakers.
“Walking on our property could be dangerous,” she said.
Hopkins’ son told her he would not begin building his own house on the family land until he knows what will happen with the shooting range, she said.
David Fox, a Tilley Creek resident for 62 years, also told commissioners to keep families in mind.
“I would like to see all my grandchildren live in peace and quiet on Tilley Creek,” Fox said. “The choice, as I see it, is really one between families and firing ranges.”
Robert Lindsay told commissioners he was proud of the area and feared a shooting range would change the face of the region.
“This is a great county we live in,” Lindsay said. “Rights and privileges stop when they infringe on other people.”
Jane Brown agreed that the issue was one of individual rights.
“I’m here to ask the county commissioners to keep in mind the rights of property owners,” Brown said.
Brown said those already on Tilley Creek are the ones officials should keep in mind, since Smoke Rise doesn’t have any property rights because they don’t currently own land in the county. Many residents are concerned because a considerable drop in property values is predicted if the range moves in.
“I think if this board decides not to act, it will have failed to protect the value of that property,” she said.
Sheila Rogers, a resident of Caney Fork, responded to comments made at previous meetings that implied many of those calling for the moratorium had little right to do so since they weren’t “locals.”
“Just because I’m not the first one in heaven doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be there,” Rogers said.
Rogers also responded to previous suggestions that those on Tilley Creek who don’t want to live next to the range should just “sell out and leave,” saying that many in the area are elderly people who couldn’t easily move.
Another Tilley Creek resident, also named David Fox, told commissioners he had lived in the area all his life and didn’t support the range moving in.
“They’re not the kind of neighbors we’re used to dealing with. We essentially have no legal recourse with these people,” Fox said.
Fox ended his comments with a challenge to commissioners.
“Show us who you’re working for,” Fox said.
Steve Webb, who lives next to the Pressley farm, echoed others’ comments, saying the issue isn’t about guns.
“I hunt and fish as much as any of these men in here,” Webb said. “The sound of those guns is going to get pretty old.”
Dale Hall criticized commissioners for only dealing with issues when they become a problem, rather than figuring out how to avoid them altogether.
“I don’t see the plan and I think that’s your responsibility. You need to look at the long-term,” Hall said.
While he doesn’t support government regulations on land use, Mark Jamison said he thought a moratorium was necessary.
“I don’t believe in zoning, and I don’t believe in writing ordinances just because you can,” Jamison said. “A moratorium would give people on both sides a chance to sit down and talk as neighbors. We need that right now.”
Only five people spoke against the moratorium, and of those only one spoke in favor of the range itself, Smoke Rise President Barry Moore.
“We don’t hunt, we don’t use bullets and we only operate during limited hours,” Moore said during brief comments.
“I wish that shooting range would go to South Carolina, actually, but they’re going to do what they want to do,” said Mike Clark, who described those on both sides of the issue as members of special interest groups.
“The common man is caught in between,” Clark said.
Ordinances like the one proposed start the county down the road to over-regulation, said Caney Fork resident Todd Mathis.
“I feel like if you buy a piece of property you ought to be able to do what you want on it. We live in a free country,” he said.
The issue has become a divisive one, said John Bunn.
“Suddenly the whole county is becoming polarized. The situation is getting more heated all the time. If this kind of thing keeps progressing, trouble is going to ensue,” Bunn said.
Bunn’s comments drew mild applause from people on both sides of the issue.
Bunn’s son Raymond Bunn echoed his father.
“This has been a very emotional issue,” Bunn said.
He called for a return to the facts from the emotions that have dominated the debate.
Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan, in his first meeting as head of the board, urged those on both sides of the issue to lower the emotional level involved.
“I know this has been an issue that has brought a lot of people to this boardroom. A lot of tempers have flared. These types of issues tend to arouse a lot of feelings. I hope we’ll work together as neighbors,” McMahan said.
He then called for any motions on the matter. Commissioner Joe Cowan moved that the board adopt the proposed moratorium. After a long silence, McMahan asked if anyone wanted to second the motion. Following continued silence, McMahan asked county Manager Ken Westmoreland how to proceed.
“If no one seconds a motion, it dies, right?” McMahan asked.
“That’s correct,” Westmoreland said.
When he still could find no second, McMahan declared the motion dead. His ruling was met with cries of “cowards” from some.
Linda Cable, director of the county’s planning department, said she had no directions to draft an ordinance.
After the meeting, Cowan said his intent in making the motion was to give both sides a chance to try to talk the issue out. The “cooling-off period” of a moratorium would give people a chance to talk in a more “neighborly” manner.
Cowan said he thinks his fellow commissioners feel that it is time to move on and that he hopes the two sides will be able to reach an acceptable compromise.
Eury said he and his neighbors plan to continue fighting the club.
“I think a clear choice was before the commissioners. It was between helping a playground for the wealthy and powerful and protecting the homes of hard-working families. The board made their allegiance clear,” Eury said. “We will continue with the work we have been doing.”
In addition to potential regulations from the county, Smoke Rise also faced an investigation from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ hazardous waste management section.
According to Eury, an anonymous tip had been sent to the agency in charge of investigating lead contamination that prompted them to send a crew to look at the former Smoke Rise site in Cashiers.
The investigation has since been called off because the Carlton family, which owns the land, is still using the range, Moore said.
“It’s amazing all the lies (those opposed to the proposed range on Tilley Creek) are telling,” Moore said, calling those responsible for the investigation “vicious and nasty.”
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