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!
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