Local gunowners please come out and support your rights in Goochland tomorrow evening

imported post

From VCDL AND VSSA



ACTION ITEM:

On Tuesday, August 7 at 7:00 PM, the Goochland Board of Supervisors is going to be asked to change the County's zoning ordinance to reinstate shooting ranges as a 'conditional use' requiring a special permit.

This is a thinly veiled attempt to keep Andrew Dykers, owner of Virginia's largest hunting preserve, Orapax, from being able to have
a sporting clays course on his vast acreage!

The individual driving this is apparently afraid Mr. Dykers is going to win in court under the current ordinance. Thus, the change in the
ordinance is a hedge so that the County can simply deny the permit for the range in the future.

While this tactic is not illegal, it certainly shows the shenanigans a few well connected people will employ to further their agenda of
restricting shooting ranges.

Finally, this proposed change would adversely impact recreational shooting ranges throughout the County since every range would have to be approved as "Conditional Use" and thus require a "Special Permit."

The public hearing is located at:

County Administration Building
Village of Goochland Courthouse
Corner of River Road West (Va. Rt. 6) and Sandy Hook Rd. (US 522)

Please attend this meeting and show your opposition to the scheme to change the County's zoning ordinance.

In addition, if you wish to contact the Board of Supervisors, here is their information:

District 1
Andrew W. Pryor
(804) 457-4177
apryor*co.goochland.va.us

District 2
William E. Quarles, Jr.
(804) 556-2927
wquarles*co.goochland.va.us

District 3
Joseph T. Lacy, Jr.
(804) 556-4836
jlacy*co.goochland.va.us

District 4
Malvern R. Butler
(804) 784-4241
mbutler*co.goochland.va.us

District 5
James W. Eads
(804) 784-3944
jeads*co.goochland.va.us

Suggested email/message:

--

Please do NOT change Goochland's ordinance for Agricultural General A-1 to reinstate shooting ranges as a "Special Use."

Such a change would make it harder for shooting ranges to be established, at a time when it is already hard for citizens to find
places to shoot.

Protect our ranges and our ability to have safe places to shoot!

Please let me know what you are planning to do on this matter.

Sincerely,

-------------------------------------------
**********************************




[align=center]Goochland County Anti-Gun Ordinance Update! [/b][/b][/align]
[align=center]Posted 8/2/07[/b][/b][/align]
[align=center]Urgent!!! Your Action Needed On August 7, 2007[/b][/align]
The Goochland County Board of Supervisors will have a public meeting on Tuesday, August 7, at 7:00 PM, in the county Administration Building, at the corner of River Road West (Va. Rt. 6) and Sandy Hook Rd. (US 522) in the village of Goochland Courthouse. The BoS will be asked to change a zoning ordinance (Agricultural General A-1) to reinstate shooting ranges as a Conditional Use requiring a Special Permit. Make no mistake, this is an attempt to keep Orapax from having a Sporting Clays Course[/b] and will impact the ability of other ranges to open in the future if the proposal is not defeated!



Just last year shooting ranges were removed from the ordinance as a Special Use by the County Attorney Andrew McRoberts (the same county attorney who tried to institute a restrictive ordinance prohibiting shooting on private property when he was employed by Culpeper County), at the behest of a private citizen of great wealth. McRoberts slipped it by the Supervisors who were not aware that it had been taken out. The Ordinance was then defined as "inclusive". McRoberts rejected Orapax's request for a range on the grounds that it was not included in the Ordinance and was therefore illegal. However, Orapax had requested their range as an Accessory Use on their Hunting Preserve, which is the largest in Virginia. Accessory Uses are permitted BY RIGHT in the Ordinance (Sec. 4). Orapax appealed his decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), which is appointed by the Circuit Court. Ever since, McRoberts has been trying to get the law changed in anticipation that he will lose before the BZA. Next Tuesday will be his 6th try at changing laws before the BZA rules in September.



Orapax needs a large number of gun owners to turn out for the meeting to convince the Board of Supervisors to defeat this unscrupulous maneuver. Please plan to attend.

[align=center][/b][/align]
[align=center]Posted 6/26/07[/b][/align]


As background for those new to this issue, Orapax Shooting Preserve wants to use a small portion of its 676 acres for sporting clays. The owner of the property, Mr. Andrew Dykers, asked for the county’s permission before installing the range and was denied permission. He appealed the decision and a meeting of the Goochland Board of Zoning Appeals was scheduled for June 19th. Thanks to an alert issued by VSSA, NRA, and other gun groups, there was a good turnout of gun owners for the meeting to support Mr. Dykers. The County attorney tried unsuccessfully to argue that the property owners had taken too long to appeal the ruling forbidding the sporting clay use of the land. Having been thwarted in their attempt to railroad Mr. Dykers, the Board decided it needed an impartial lawyer to look at both sides of the zoning argument and postponed the hearing. No one in the audience had a chance to speak.

VSSA will update members when the Board sets a final time and date so you can turn out to support your right to shoot on private property.



The Goochland County Planning Commission met on June 21[suP]st[/suP] to consider an ordinance amending the Goochland County Zoning Ordinance (Appendix A to the Goochland County Code of Ordinances), Article 2(“Agricultural, General District A-1”) and Article 3 (“Agricultural, Limited, District A-2”) to include gun, rifle, skeet and other similar shooting ranges as a conditional use. This proposal would have had a restrictive impact on gun owners who shoot on their private property.



The Commission recommended that the zoning ordinance amendment pertaining to gun ranges, skeet shooting, sporting clays courses (etc) not be adopted by the Board of Supervisors. The Board will have a public hearing on the proposed amendment on August 7, 2007 to hear the amendment and make a decision



Gun owners living in Goochland should plan to attend the August 7 public hearing and make you voice heard. VSSA will update members on the exact time of the public hearing as we get the information. If you are not a member of VSSA’s email alert list, please go to the “Ask VSSA” link and forward your email address to use and in the body of the message ask to be added to our alert list so we can keep you informed should grassroots action be needed again.



[align=center]Posted 6/19/07[/b][/b][/align]


On Tuesday, June 19 at 5:30 p.m. the Goochland County Board of Zoning Appeals will hear an appeal by Orapax Farms, a 30-year old hunting preserve located on nearly 700 acres, which asserts that Orapax has a "by right" to use its property to operate a sporting clays facility in conjunction with its hunting preserve. This "by right" appeal is consistent with current zoning regulations, as well as with Orapax's prior use.

In denying the original Orapax request for approval of a sporting clays facility, the county zoning administrator is somehow inferring that while lawful hunting is appropriate on the nearly 700 rural acres, shooting sporting clays in not. This decision was based on either a lack of familiarity with sporting clays, or it is an outright slap in the face of law-abiding sportsmen. For more than a quarter century Orapax has operated as a good neighbor and respected member of the community. Their support for hunting and recreational shooting in Goochland County should be applauded, rather than restricted.

Also, on Thursday, June 21 at 7:00 p.m., the Goochland County Planning Commission is likely to consider a proposal that would amend the existing county zoning ordinance by including "gun, rifle, skeet and other similar shooting ranges as conditional use" in regulations governing land zoned as "Agricultural, Limited, District A-2."

This is, yet again, another attempt by the Planning Commission to further restrict lawful recreational shooting in the county.

Please plan on attending both meetings -- tonight at 5:30 p.m. and Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. -- to show your support for hunting and recreational shooting in Goochland County! Both meetings will be held in the Goochland County Administration Building at 1800 Sandy Hook Rd. near the Rt. 522 and Rt. 6 junction -- please be sure to alert your family, friends and fellow sportsmen and urge them to attend as well[/b]

[/b]

[align=center]Posted 5/23/07[/b] [/b][size=][/size][/align]

On Thursday, May 17, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors and the county Planning Commission held a rare combined meeting to consider an ordinance that would have dramatically revised county land use standards in an attempt to prohibit recreational shooting on private property.

Thanks in large part to the numerous law-abiding gun owners who attended and spoke at the meeting, as well as those who contacted the Board of Supervisors, the combined body declined to take action on the proposed ordinance, and has sent the measure back for “further study.”

While this is certainly a victory for Goochland’s law-abiding gun-owners, we must continue to work to ensure that this arbitrary and nebulous proposal is not once again brought before the Board of Supervisors.

If you live in Goochland, please contact your Supervisor to thank him for sending the land use proposal back for further study. If you live in another locality but shoot recreationally on Goochland property such as a shooting preserve, please contact the Board and let your voice be heard too. Also, politely remind the Board that lawful recreational shooting poses no threat in Goochland County and that the Board of Supervisors should continue to respect the rights of private property owners by opposing any ordinance that seeks to restrict lawful recreational shooting.

District 1
Andrew Pryor
(804) 457-4177
apryor@co.goochland.va.us[size=][/size]



District 2
William Quarles
(804) 556-2927
wquarles@co.goochland.va.us



District 3
Joseph Lacy
(804) 556-4836
jlacy@co.goochland.va.us



District 4
Malvern R. Butler
(804) 784-4241
mbutler@co.goochland.va.us



District 5
James Eads
(804) 784-3944
jeads@co.goochland.va.us





[align=center]Goochland[/b] County[/b] to Discuss Anti-Gun Ordinance! [/b]
Make Your Voice Heard![/b][size=][/size][/b][/align]
[align=center]Posted May 15, 2007[/b][/align]
[size=][/size]

In a rare meeting of both the Goochland County Board of Supervisors and the county Planning Commission, the combined bodies will likely consider an ordinance that could dramatically revise county land use standards in an attempt to prohibit recreational and target shooting on private property. The meeting will be held at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, May 17 at the Goochland Administration Building, 1800 Sandy Hood Road, Goochland.

While anti-gun zealots have yet to provide any evidence that traditional recreational shooting poses a danger or is somehow unsuitable for the county, an effort is underway to drastically revise the county's land use ordinance to create nebulous and arbitrary requirements that could very well threaten the future of recreational shooting in Goochland County.

Please make every effort to attend Thursday's meeting and voice your opposition to the proposed and unnecessary changes to the county land use ordinance. Regardless of whether or not you can attend, please contact your Board of Supervisors member and urge him to oppose any action that will unnecessarily restrict lawful recreational shooting in Goochland County.
[size=][/size]




District 1
Andrew Pryor
(804) 457-4177
apryor@co.goochland.va.us

District 2
William Quarles
(804) 556-2927
wquarles@co.goochland.va.us

District 3
Joseph Lacy
(804) 556-4836
jlacy@co.goochland.va.us

District 4
Malvern R. Butler
(804) 784-4241
mbutler@co.goochland.va.us

District 5
James Eads
(804) 784-3944
jeads@co.goochland.va.us








[align=center]Return to VSSA Home Page[/b][size=][/size][/b][/align]

imported post

bump

imported post

thanks for the bump

imported post

How did it go?

imported post

They approved the language of the ordinance as written. One of the Supervisors(mine) raised the issue that the language of the ordinance did not address the private versus business which may be addressed in the final language. I have fired off a few emails to confirm what if anything is being changed to protect the rights of private ranges. The meeting ran until almost 12:00 am( there was another big issue on the table before ours) All the speakers on this issue were in support of Orapax and against this ordinance. I'd guess 10 people spoke in opposition none against. Philip Van Cleave was there and spoke. There is an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch today about the meeting. I have tried to access the RTD website this morning to post it but can't get the page to load. Maybe someone else here can.

imported post

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-08-0104.html

Sport-shooting plan in Goochland decried
Gun-rights group is against plan to require permit for landowners

By CALVIN R. TRICETIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

A statewide gun-rights organization asked members to rally in opposition to a proposal in Goochland County to require landowners get a special permit to run businesses for sport shooting.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League sent out a notice for members and supporters to attend last night's hearing on the issue. Philip Van Cleave, the organization's president, said the urbanization of Virginia has made it harder for game enthusiasts to find shooting ranges. Requirements such as the one Goochland wants to restore would make it harder, he said.

"The government shouldn't be making it more difficult for us to go out and find ranges. They should be working with us," Van Cleave said.

Goochland landowner Andrew Dykers said he believes his attempts to run a clay-target shooting range on his land is behind the proposed change. Dykers owns Orapax quail hunting preserve on his 672-acre property off state Route 6 in eastern Goochland.
"The whole purpose of this is to try to deny this permit to me," said Dykers, 77, a former investment consultant who has owned the property since 1980. He and his wife, Nancy, have lived on the property since 1987.

Don Charles, Goochland's director of community development, said the proposed ordinance change to require a conditional use permit for shooting ranges would affect commercial operations, not landowners shooting guns in their backyards.

"This doesn't mean that if a property owner wanted to shoot in their backyard, they need to have a conditional use permit," he said.

William Quarles, a member of the Board of Supervisors, said the proposal is not an attempt to take away anybody's rights. He said the permit requirement had been in the zoning ordinance until it was eliminated last year.

The proposal "would reinstate the ordinance so that people could decide whether they want something like this put in their neighborhood," Quarles said.

Dykers ran a shooting range alongside his hunting resort from 1989 to 1991. When neighbors complained about the noise, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance requiring a conditional use permit for the business. He applied for one and was denied, forcing him to shutter the operation, he said.

When the county government reissued the zoning ordinances for agricultural land last year, the restriction on shooting ranges disappeared. The remaining ordinance section allowed for undefined accessory uses on farmland for which property owners do not have to apply for a permit. Farmers increasingly have opened up ventures on their land to supplement their incomes.

Dykers said he believes that a sporting clays range would be just such an accessory use. In December, he invited supervisors to his property to see a demonstration of sporting clays shooting and measure the noise level, he said.

In March, Dykers asked county officials to affirm his right to operate a clay-target shooting range at Orapax, but he was turned down in a letter. He appealed the decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which set a September hearing date for the matter. Around the same time, county officials proposed to reinstate the permit requirement for shooting ranges on agricultural property.

"It's terribly unethical -- not illegal, but unethical -- to be changing laws that are in litigation," Dykers said.

If Dykers prevails on appeal, any change in the ordinance would not apply to his case. If he doesn't win his appeal and supervisors reinstate the permit requirement, he would have to apply for one to run the shooting range.

Contact Calvin R. Trice at ctrice@timesdispatch.com or (540) 932-3674.

imported post

vt357 wrote:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-08-0104.html

Sport-shooting plan in Goochland decried
Gun-rights group is against plan to require permit for landowners

By CALVIN R. TRICETIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

A statewide gun-rights organization asked members to rally in opposition to a proposal in Goochland County to require landowners get a special permit to run businesses for sport shooting.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League sent out a notice for members and supporters to attend last night's hearing on the issue. Philip Van Cleave, the organization's president, said the urbanization of Virginia has made it harder for game enthusiasts to find shooting ranges. Requirements such as the one Goochland wants to restore would make it harder, he said.

"The government shouldn't be making it more difficult for us to go out and find ranges. They should be working with us," Van Cleave said.

Goochland landowner Andrew Dykers said he believes his attempts to run a clay-target shooting range on his land is behind the proposed change. Dykers owns Orapax quail hunting preserve on his 672-acre property off state Route 6 in eastern Goochland.
"The whole purpose of this is to try to deny this permit to me," said Dykers, 77, a former investment consultant who has owned the property since 1980. He and his wife, Nancy, have lived on the property since 1987.

Don Charles, Goochland's director of community development, said the proposed ordinance change to require a conditional use permit for shooting ranges would affect commercial operations, not landowners shooting guns in their backyards.

"This doesn't mean that if a property owner wanted to shoot in their backyard, they need to have a conditional use permit," he said.

William Quarles, a member of the Board of Supervisors, said the proposal is not an attempt to take away anybody's rights. He said the permit requirement had been in the zoning ordinance until it was eliminated last year.

The proposal "would reinstate the ordinance so that people could decide whether they want something like this put in their neighborhood," Quarles said.

Dykers ran a shooting range alongside his hunting resort from 1989 to 1991. When neighbors complained about the noise, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance requiring a conditional use permit for the business. He applied for one and was denied, forcing him to shutter the operation, he said.

When the county government reissued the zoning ordinances for agricultural land last year, the restriction on shooting ranges disappeared. The remaining ordinance section allowed for undefined accessory uses on farmland for which property owners do not have to apply for a permit. Farmers increasingly have opened up ventures on their land to supplement their incomes.

Dykers said he believes that a sporting clays range would be just such an accessory use. In December, he invited supervisors to his property to see a demonstration of sporting clays shooting and measure the noise level, he said.

In March, Dykers asked county officials to affirm his right to operate a clay-target shooting range at Orapax, but he was turned down in a letter. He appealed the decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which set a September hearing date for the matter. Around the same time, county officials proposed to reinstate the permit requirement for shooting ranges on agricultural property.

"It's terribly unethical -- not illegal, but unethical -- to be changing laws that are in litigation," Dykers said.

If Dykers prevails on appeal, any change in the ordinance would not apply to his case. If he doesn't win his appeal and supervisors reinstate the permit requirement, he would have to apply for one to run the shooting range.

Contact Calvin R. Trice at ctrice@timesdispatch.com or (540) 932-3674.

Click to expand...

chris,

thanks. now if someone could post the headlinefrom the print edition as it is the one i read this morning and it is different than this one. The print edition headline has a definite anti-vcdl slant at least to me. it's interesting to see that the headlines are different. The online version is much less confrontational.

imported post

Also some folks from Cavalier Rifle and Pistol clubwere there. One gentleman stayed until the end and spoke. I was standing outside talking to Phillip and we met two other gentleman from Cavalier that had to leave early. I wish they could have stayed but i understand not everyone was prepared to spend the night there. Hopefully if Orapax ever does have to go in front of the board to have a conditional use permit approved we can pack the room with supporters. But hopefully they can get their sporting clays course built w/o that process.

imported post

Print version headlines:

Goochland to require shooting-range permit
Supervisors approve plan over objections of gun-rights group

imported post

chris,

thanks again. the online headline reads as statement of facts about the meeting the print version trumpets the "defeat" of a "gun-rights" group.

joe

imported post

Thanks for posting this information gentlemen! I was wondering what happened at the meeting. I could not attend, but I did send emails to each and every one of the board members. Thanks again.

imported post

638Fitta wrote:

Thanks for posting this information gentlemen! I was wondering what happened at the meeting. I could not attend, but I did send emails to each and every one of the board members. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

thanks for sending the emails. Supervisor Quarles specificly mentioned receiving 70-80 emails about people worried about their rights. So thanks to all of you who emailed. I am currently working on the process to have the language ammended to clearly state that this ordinance is to apply to commercial operations only. I will keep you all updated and let you all know how it goes. I may need to request another email barrage at a later date.

Joe