If you're reading this, you've likely received our postcard mailer, and we thank you for taking the time to visit our site. We're simply a group of neighbors trying to protect our right to enjoy our properties free from the persistent gun-fire of a public use range.

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All recipients of the mailer live within earshot of a proposed public-use clay shooting range (VSP), seeking a conditional use permit to establish itself on a narrow 85-acre parcel on Walton Road along I-64 across from Ange Road, operating 365 days a year from 8am to dusk, including weekends and holidays.

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Use this interactive map to see how close your home is to the range.
 

This proposal is scheduled for a public hearing and vote by the Goochland Planning Commission on Thursday, January 15, 2026 (RSVP here). The hearing will begin by 6pm, but we encourage early arrival due to anticipated crowds.

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We ask that you support us at this meeting through attendance and by contacting the Planning Commissioners via email and phone call ahead of their vote on the 15th. (See What Can I Do? for more info.)

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We have numerous concerns about this range and its adverse impact on our families, our properties, and our neighborhood. A good idea doesn't justify the use of a bad location, and a public-use gun range doesn't belong next to existing family homes.

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Sound Pollution:

The shooting stations are located only 400 feet from the property line of its nearest neighbor and only 600 feet from his home. The decibel-levels will likely reach hazardous and hearing-damaging levels per OSHA standards. Other neighbors -- including those with newborns, those working night shifts, and those with autistic children living less than 1,500 feet from the sports park -- will experience sudden, loud, and inescapable noise from the 70-100 shooters anticipated on tournament weekends. The land is simply not conducive to provide reasonable and adequate distance buffering for the existing family homes in this residential area.

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Lead Contamination:

Based on VSP's approximation of minimum users per weekday and weekend, approximately 7,696 pounds of lead ammunition will be dispelled annually into the environment, which includes Deep Creek, designated wetlands and a FEMA Flood Hazard Area. Not only does this risk the wells of family homes in the immediate vicinity, but includes the possibility of contamination downriver throughout the Pamunkey River watershed. There is no safe or acceptable level of lead exposure, especially for children and pregnant women.

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Traffic Concerns:

VSP contracted a traffic engineering firm to conduct a traffic impact analysis (TIA), per Goochland County requirements. Although VDOT requires that roads within a one mile radius of a proposed development should be evaluated, the TIA only examined roads and intersections within a half mile, excluding the notorious intersection of Three Chopt Road with Broad Street at D'Amores Market. Near misses, blocked views of Broad Street traffic, and one-lane conditions due to illegal parking alongside the Market are daily occurrences for those traversing Three Chopt. However, the TIA concluded that "no improvements are warranted" to the existing roads. Additionally, the TIA classified VSP as a golf course and an archery range, not a gun range, in their analysis. Patron usage of a golf course, and thereby its traffic patterns, are markedly different than that of a shooting range.

 

The TIA must be performed again to include the required one mile radius of roads and to account for accurate classification of the development as a shooting sports park, not a golf course.

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Property Devaluation:

While the most avid of firearms enthusiasts may want their own private gun range, no one wants to live next to a public-use range, especially one operating 365 days a year. Existing family homes could see a market devaluation anywhere from 3.7 to 10%, depending on proximity to the range.​

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For these reasons, we oppose the development of the Virginia Sports Park at this location, asking the developer to find a larger parcel of land better suited to their purposes and respectfully urging the Goochland Planning Commission and the Goochland Board of Supervisors to reject the conditional use application.

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Signed,

Your Neighbors on Walton Road

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For a more detailed outline of our concerns, you can read more here.

 

 

 

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