Posted on 06/28/2004 6:14:17 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
The shooting range at Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Island Lake State Recreation Area must comply with Green Oak Township's noise ordinance, a judge has ruled.
Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Burress Thursday signed a preliminary injunction ordering the DNR to comply with the ordinance, which limits noise to 65 decibels.
"We're very, very happy the judge took that stance with it, we really think he's for the people," said Marilyn Carr, a nearby resident who has been one of the most vocal in complaining about the noise levels.
If the state does not comply, a court hearing will be scheduled, at which time Burress could order the range closed until the necessary modifications are made. Independent testing by both the township and DNR has confirmed that sound levels resulting from the privately run skeet, trap and sporting clay range portion of the facility are above the township's limit.
"The preliminary injunction says the (DNR) must comply; if they don't comply, we'll be back in court," said Township Supervisor Mark St. Charles. "The judge is obviously cognizant of the case; he was clearly concerned with the effect the noise has had on the residents."
DNR spokesman Brad Wurfel responded that the judge and the DNR are on the same page, and have the same goal in mind. "The judge told us to do what we've been doing - sound-proofing is in the process of being completed - and it reaffirms where we've been heading all along," he said. The sound mitigation efforts are in the form of "sheds" being installed at each of the 14 sporting clay stations, Wurfel said.
Brighton Township Supervisor John Rogers said the structures will not lessen the sound. "The sheds are nowhere near what they showed us with the scale model; the sheds they're putting up now look like the old-style outhouses," he said. Rogers said the DNR's own expert told the Natural Resources Commission, its policy-making body, that the shooting stations would have to be put in a 100-foot deep "mound" to sufficiently deaden the sound.
This weekend the township will bring in an outside firm, Clayton Services Group of Novi, to conduct noise tests at the range, as it did last summer. The DNR will also bring in independent experts to conduct tests this weekend, Wurfel said. Initially, Burress wanted the DNR and township jointly to find a third party for the testing, but was told it would be impossible to find such a company so quickly.
Township Clerk Michael Sedlak said Burress could have ordered the range closed immediately, but instead is giving the DNR a chance to make the necessary modifications.
"He is allowing the gun range time to make the changes; I think it is going to bring the issue to a (conclusion)," Sedlak said.
St. Charles said the testing will take place during what is expected to be a noisy event: a sporting clay competition involving up to 300 shooters from five Midwestern states being held today , Saturday and Sunday.
Carr, the nearby resident, called the noise levels a direct result of opening up the sporting clay range, which opened last year. "That's when all the problems started," she said.
On June 4, the township filed suit against the DNR and Michigan Shooting Centers, which operates the range. The township approved the shooting range in 1998 as a special use, "provided noise levels would comply with Green Oak Township ordinances," the suit states. The DNR has said it has immunity from local ordinances but that it will comply with the township's ordinance.
Present at Thursday's hearing in Howell, besides St. Charles, Sedlak and Rogers, were DNR legislative liaison Dennis Knapp; a representative of the Michigan Attorney General's office; Brighton Township Trustee H.E. "Bud" Prine; sporting clay range franchisee Pat Lieske and his attorney; and several residents.
Tom Tolen can be reached at tolen@livingstoncommunitynews.com or at (810) 844-2009.
In your back yard.
The perfect compromise: legalize silencers.
A solution: do not build your house near a skeet and trap field... most have been there for decades.
I was thinking range rentals, myself.
Silencera are legal now. Just pay the $200 transfer tax.
"which limits noise to 65 decibels."
Wonder how long before they start citing people for their kids screaming? My kids could easily break that limit. Most likely they put this ordinance in to eliminate the idiots with their loud car stereos, the range just got caught up.
Well in this case, it was the residents that were there first, and the range owners seem to have failed to live up to agreed conditions.
If I was this homeowner I'd be pissed too.
And when are they going to crack down on those jerks with the 150 dB car stereos that you can hear coming 300 yards away, inside your own car, with the windows up, AC blasting, and your own radio playing.
But it sounds like this one is new, and was given a permit to build only so long as it complied with local noise ordinances:
"Carr, the nearby resident, called the noise levels a direct result of opening up the sporting clay range, which opened last year. "That's when all the problems started," she said."
If this is the case, I'm with the home-owners. What if the local big wigs decided to zone a lot near your house for use as a garbage dump or a place for the local teens to rehearse their garage bands? I'd say the locals were sleeping with someone and screwing everyone else.
I'm with you there. Seems like cops could have some sort of decibel meter to handle this. I am tired of feeling my brain-pan rattled by some jerk in with huge speakers. I wish there were some sort of EMP gun to shut down his car.
Is Michigan a Class 3 state? If so, suppressed rental guns (the more full auto, the more profit) would be a good way to cut some of the noise and generate some profit.
Maybe one of those feedback noise reduction systems could bring the range into compliance with its picayune neighbors.
Regulation without representation. Extension of power beyond terratorial limits. A "taking" under the Fifth Amendment. Judicial fiat superceding God-given unalienable rights.
If the town can't live with the noise, they should pay to relocate the range. There may be other solutions within the Constitution, but that is the one that occurs to me. The state owns the range. My guess is the state may bow to the city and the judge in the interest of public relations, especially likely if there are more people in town than shooters on the range. Knowing governments, if the range relocates, state taxpayers will pick up the tab, not the city.
Move farther out. There is little more as tyrannical than a neighborhood association or the city/county board!
I wonder how strict they are regarding loud exhaust on automobiles and trucks? A big 'ole pick-up with dual exhaust and tips is FAR louder going through your neighborhood than 65 db. All those idiots who put what are called "fart cans" on the exhaust of little import autos are far louder than 65db.
A neighbor running a lawnmower can easily be louder than 65 db.
What about the thumping car stereo crowd?
Nope- it's just the gun crowd that gets singled out.
According to this website (http://www.westernfirearms.com/wfc/default?set=06) Michigan is a Class 3 state.
The shooting range at Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Island Lake State Recreation Area must comply with Green Oak Township's noise ordinance, a judge has ruled.
Thanks!
Here's a Decibel Chart as an example:
Jet engine - close up; < 160
Snare drums played hard at 6 inches away; 150
Trumpet peaks at 5 inches away; 150
Rock singer screaming in microphone (lips on mic); 140
Threshold of pain ; < 140
So 'they' want this range to be slightly noisier than a conversation at one foot!! Which in effect would mean that ZERO noise would be heard at the property line. Again, Utterly ridiculous IMO.
And by this berg's ordinance I see that ALL homeowners would be prohibited from using ANY power tool. So they're legalizing mandating SLUM Housing as you can't do repairs. And NOBODY can legally play their stereo either!
Get an equally powerful amp and speakers and a CD of bagpipe music or bluegrass.
I was hoping for something that'd just send out some wierd electro-magnetic pulse and - hey! - all of a sudden his ignition doesn't work, the stereo doesn't work, and his car is stuck in the road with no theme music to share anymore. A little James Bond-kookie, but someone has to be working on something like that for police chases, if nothing else.
Reminds me of a story I read here about a year ago. A housing development went up near a hog farm. You can guess the rest.
Amen to that brother. I hope the little bastards go deaf.
Do. When I lived in CO, the Boulder police had decibal meters and would write tickets for overly-loud exhaust notes.
Rhetorical question: Can you put one of those on a 12 ga side-by-side for sporting clays competition? I don't think so.
There is a pricey housing area here north of Dallas that I swear has been built next to an old landfill. Ever time it rains it smells like old diapers. A stream runs through it that I call "Sh!t Creek." I can't believe paying to live anywhere near the place.
There are also houses nearby built right up to the frequently-used train tracks. These are new, big, gorgeous houses, but I cannot imagine for one minute living in one. I can just see me as a guest when the train goes by, the china and cabinets all rattling, while the owner shouts "AFTER A WHILE YOU GET USED TO IT!"
I agree. 65 dB is unrealistically low. According to the law, you are not allowed to so much as drive a nail into a deck.
It has been developed: Electo-Mmagnetic Pulse device. Read about it a year ago...I don't remember the details.
I won't waste my money.
Eventually the car noise jerks get the message that the only reason their neighbors don't just shoot out their tinted windows is that there is a condition of civilization existing in the hood.
Oh good grief!
The man who patented the firearm silencer is the same man who patented the automobile exhaust silencer.
There is an EMP gun. Don't know if its beyond the prototype, but anyway it's probably too expensive, unless you rented it out. Now there's a great (and useful) enterprise.
Meanwhile I WANT to live over near Jax Skeet and Trap (the oldest gun club in the USA)... there are no available lots.
Really!
Don't these folks realize how lucky they are to live so close to a range?!?
Here's a short summary.
1. About 6-7 years ago, the DNR opened a firing range there. There's homes about a 3/4 mile away and futher out. The Range is near I-96 and Kensington Road in Green Oak Township. Brighton Township is on the other side of the expressway.
2. The USUAL defense on a firing range is the grandfather clause. We were here first. "Go back to Ann Arbor." etc Etc. However this defense can't work here.
3. The Townships affected are taking a LOT of heat from the group of about 10-15 people. I was at one of the meetings.
4. The main noise complaint is the sporting clays range, not the rifle range.
5. At least one of those activists is an animal rights with the Humane Society of the United States - which is more anti-hunting than their pet rescue face. One of the others seems more reasonable from when I talked to them.
7. At one of the township meetings, the group of 15 was trying to get the whole thing shut down because of lead.
8. The DNR is looking at building something to lower the sound at the range.
Class III is illegal in Michigan. That was due to former AG Frank Kelley's legal opinion.
Good riddance to him.
Did he decide that just because he didn't like the idea of people owning Class 3?
Granholm took his place, and now we have Mike Cox who is a good guy. He promised to help us with reciprocity here and actually kept his promise.
Hey Dan, someone needs to ask this council where are the citations, fines, etc. for all others that exceed the 65 db. limit. If they are clueless they should be reminded of lawnmowers, traffic (especially seeing as I-96 is nearby), etc. This would really prove that they are be selective in the enforcement of the ruling.
What gives anyone the right to "zone" anything you have bought and paid for??
HOA"s and restricted subdivions?? stupid...If you work and make payments for 20 or 30 years...the damn land is yours...if you want to put in an auto salvage yard or a tittie bar..it ain't none of the local bureaucrats business.
I live on Ft.Knox ans we hear 120mm, 155mm, M-16, 30mm, 9mm, .50 cal, 5,000lb's, and a whole crap load more.
Also we have 8 ranges for people to come and shoot at.
We and the surrounding towns and villages have no problems.
The noise can get pretty loud but, theres a way to counter that close to window.
I also agree with the idea of cracking down on people with stereos blaring so you can hear them a mile away.
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)
In Finnland they have noise rules for gun ranges.....But they allow anyone to own and use a silencer, on rifles as well as handguns. I don't know about shotguns.
It's a privately run range on DNR land. It's not the DNR that is being sued. Besides which a state agency is normal exempt from local laws and regulations.
I looked up the location of the range, it's in the middle of large park like area. The closest streets outside the park look to be at least 1/2 mile from the range, probably more like 3/4 mile. My brother's house is about a mile from a trap range. If you're outside and the wind is right, you can hear the shots, but they sound much quieter than the sound of popcorn from inside your microwave. Put it this way. When you are firing a shotgun you are less than 3 feet from the muzzle, where most of noise is generated. A normal set of muffs reduces the sound by about 22 Db. (less for plugs that many shot gunners use) Each 3 Db represents a reduction by a factor of 2 in the intensity of the sound (not the perceived intensity, which tends to be more logarithmic and thus the reduction in percieved intensity goes down about like the Dbs. ) Doubling the distance reduces the sound by 6 Db. Thus at 1/2 mile the sound is down about 29 db from what it was at 3 feet, or about 7 db less than perceived by the shooter with a good pair of muffs. That doesn't tell the whole story either, because the highest frequencies are attenuated more than the lower ones. Thus the boom turns more into a pop. Shotguns have lower high frequency content than rifles, which "crack" rather than boom. Remember that the closest residents are *more* than 1/2 mile away.
Actually you do. I grew up with the Rock Island tracks where our alley should have been. This was the main line near the edge of the city and the heavy freight trains were getting up to speed or just starting to slow down as they passed. Before that We lived across the street from the Burlington tracks, with maybe 75-100 yards from my bedroom window to the tracks. Those were often steam engines pulling those trains, but by the time we moved to the house by the RI line, all were diesel electric. I miss the trains.
Silencers are legal now. Just pay the $200 transfer tax.
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