Orange County NC Website
9 <br />the information that Deputy Sykes has shared today, she said, but I don’t even call <br />9-1-1 anymore because it’s completely futile. Former Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass <br />gave me his cell number, she said, but even he couldn’t do anything about it and <br />now he’s gone. <br />In reply to a question from Mr. Hunnell, Ms. Conti said she had not directly <br />inspected the shooting range to determine if the setup is safe, if the bullets were <br />being disbursed into a backdrop of some sort. I would not know what I was <br />looking at, she said. My husband has spent a lot of time with other neighbors back <br />there on that property, and he would be able to say more.There have beena lot of <br />eyes on that property by well-informed people.I believe that we are not safe with <br />that gun range behind our house. <br />John Roberts, County Attorney, said that the County has gun range regulations in <br />place. However, they were only enacted last yearand the State preempts the <br />County from regulating any sports shooting range operated and maintained for <br />target practice, whether private or commercial, that existed before the County <br />regulations were enacted. Going forward, the County can regulate any new <br />shooting ranges that might be constructed, but the existing ranges are all <br />grandfathered in.I don’t know if Mr. Klein’s range is a sports shooting range, he <br />said. I’m not familiar with that particular location or what it is. The State’s <br />definition is very broad; it could be that a 3-foot high berm being maintained for <br />the purpose of target shooting is sufficient. You never know until it is tested in <br />court. <br />Craig Benedict, County Planning Director, said it’s problematic that people do not <br />have the information they need. When complaints are made, he said, it is hard for <br />both the complainants and the people conducting these activities to know how they <br />fit with the existing County ordinances. The line has been blurred over the past five <br />years about what’s a private activity and what’s a public activity.Mr. Benedict <br />added that the best resource person to make the differentiation between land use <br />and zoning issues in the County is Michael Harvey[who was observing the <br />meeting]. He lives and breathes the complaints from neighbors in Orange County, <br />and he works with the Sheriff’s Office to determine how to approach these <br />situations; it’s difficult in some cases to figure this out. As the Committee <br />continues to meet and have questions, Michael and I will continue to try to help <br />with these definitions, making them asclear as possible, he said. <br />Mr. Kirkland suggested that it might be helpful to define “sustained shooting.” <br />What should the hour be or how long the activity in order for us to refer to it as