Sudden, Constant, Inescapable Noise

As stated elsewhere, we are no strangers to the sound of recreational firearm use on Walton Road, and we do not begrudge our neighbors their personal "range time" on their own properties.

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However, a public-use shotgun range open 365 days a year from 9am to dusk will be an unmitigated nightmare for those of us already living on Walton Road.

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At the community meeting, VSP stated or implied:

1. Their leased property has adequate buffering by acreage, vegetation, or terrain for neighboring residents, and that no vegetation would be cut.

2. Clay shooting participants would be shooting "away" from residents, meaning the noise would be traveling away from their properties.

3. The VSP location would have more buffering than their model shooting range, the Bull Run Shooting Center in Centreville, Virginia.

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These statements were misleading and patently false, but the community was allotted no time to voice concerns or raise rebuttal at the "community" meeting.

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Claim #1: The property has adequate buffering for noise.

The property consists of 75-acres along the northside of I-64, and it is narrow and rectangular in shape. The closest properties are 300-500 feet away from the proposed shooting stations, and VSP is not proposing to erect any manmade barrier for sound. Depending on the shotgun and ammunition being used, hearing-damaging decibel levels could be experienced by the adjacent property owner simply by standing on his own property.

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While trees do still stand on roughly half the property, the developer's own schematics show that significant land-clearing will occur to construct their parking lot, clubhouse, and pavilion, and that over half of their sixteen shooting stations will be placed on already cleared land. Their assertion that no land would be cleared and that shooting stations would be entirely in woodlands is a patent lie.

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Additionally, the parcels contain wetlands of Deep Creek and minimal sloping or terrain curvature to mitigate the noise pollution on neighboring properties.

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Claim #2: The shotgun noise would be directed away from neighbors.

Shotgun noise does not travel in one direction, and the implication that noise would be mitigated simply because a shotgun is pointed in the opposite direction is false. Noise travels outwardly in a radial pattern, and shotgun noise can travel up to two miles under the right condition, especially when there are no natural or manmade barriers.

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Even under that false assumption, the VSP schematic shows the shotgun stations aligned roughly in a circle around the property, with the direction of fire being north, south, and east. The design notes conveniently cover the closest neighbor, Jose Leandro to the north, whose property is a mere 340 feet from the closest shooting station. At that distance, Mr. Leandro would experience hearing-damaging decibel levels simply by standing on his own property.

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Other properties are within 500, 800, 1000, and 1500 feet from the shooting stations.

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Claim #3: The VSP range would have more buffering than its model, Bull Run Shooting Center.

At the community meeting, VSP claimed that the VSP range would have more buffering for its neighbors than the Bull Run Shooting Center in Centreville, VA, after which it is being modeled.

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A simple GIS and Google Map satellite image search casts doubt on this assertion.

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The vast majority of homes within a two-mile radius of Bull Run Shooting Center are buffered by wooded parcels including:

• 902 acres owned by Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (Bull Run Shooting Center)

• 333+ acres owned by Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority

• 236+ acres owned by Prince William Board of County Supervisors

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There is no such buffering of acres for the existing family homes on Walton Road.

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