A new privately-owned gun range was approved by the Tooele County planning commission on Wednesday.
The planning commission voted unanimously to approve a conditional use permit for Doug Higley to operate a gun range on property he owns at 7036 N. Burmester Road between Interstate 80 and Grantsville City limits.
In October, the planning commission tabled Higley’s proposal after neighbors raised concerns about noise.
Higley returned Tuesday night after meeting with his neighbors and conducting noise tests using sound wall material.
Higley fired a 45-caliber lever action rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun, and a .357 revolver pistol on the site of the proposed range with sound wall material hung eight feet behind the firing point.
He reported that at 25 feet behind the firing point the loudest sound recorded was 84.3 decibels from the shotgun; at 150 feet from the property line the noise level was 70.6 decibels; and at the property line there was no sound detected from the shotgun blast.
In addition to the sound wall, Higley’s plan for his range also includes berms surrounding the firing points and overhead baffles for both safety and noise reduction.
The conditional use permit includes requirements that the range be built and operated according to National Rifle Association standards. The hours of operation are restricted by the CUP to between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. or dusk, whichever occurs earlier. It also requires compliance with all county ordinances pertaining to noise, nuisance, building and zoning.
Higley voluntarily agreed to a condition that requires the range to close on Sundays at the request of his neighbors.
Higley’s property on Burmester Road is zoned A-20, agricultural use with minimum lot size of 20 acres per residence.
A gun range is permissible in an A-20 zone as a recreational use, according to Tooele County Planner Blaine Gehring.
In 2003 the Big Shot Gun Range, one-half mile northeast of Higley’s property, was granted a conditional use permit for a gun range that is currently in operation.
The approval of the Big Shot Gun Range set a precedent to allow gun ranges in A-20 zones under existing ordinance, Gehring said.
Once approved by the county commission, future changes in land use ordinances approved by the planning commission at its Oct. 7 meeting, will restrict gun ranges to multiple use zones, according to Gehring.