Indoor Range

The Westminster businessman who spent more than two years trying to develop the county's first indoor shooting range has called it quits, apparently because his financial backers fear too much competition from the outdoor range recently approved by the County Commissioners."

NEW YORK -- MetroGolf Inc. plans to develop a golf center adjacent to New York's Times Square, allowing patrons to work on their game without leaving midtown.The golf center will feature a 200-yard indoor driving range with 54 tees on the roof of the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street.The project will cost about $6 million and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year."The revival of Times Square and 42nd Street is one of the great urban success stories," Charles Gargano, vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a statement.

Some South Carroll residents oppose a proposed indoor rifle range, the county's first, at an Eldersburg business park because of the children in the area, says the leader of the South Carroll Coalition.A shooting range "has no place sandwiched between a high school and an indoor sports arena. I wish they'd find another place for it," said Kathy Horneman, the coalition's president."The issue is not the firing range itself. I see that need. It's just the wrong place for it," she said.Pikesville attorney Jay L. Liner and Arbutus contractor Joseph R. Twilley have proposed opening the Top Gun Indoor Range at the Eldersburg Business Center, on Route 32 across the road from Liberty High School.

The Westminster businessman who spent more than two years trying to develop the county's first indoor shooting range has called it quits, apparently because his financial backers fear too much competition from the outdoor range recently approved by the County Commissioners."

An indoor shooting range proposed by the Carroll County Recreation and Parks Board this week would serve the educational and training needs of sportsmen, the president of a county sports group said yesterday."

The county commissioners have instructed a recreation committee to investigate building an indoor shooting range as an alternative to a proposed outdoor range that has drawn opposition from South Carroll residents.The commissioners assigned the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board the task Monday in response to residents' concerns that an outdoor range at the Hoods Mill Landfill could produce unacceptable noise and safety risks."I've reached the conclusion that there's no place left in Carroll County where we can have [an outdoor]

Top Gun Indoor Range Inc. will open in the Eldersburg Business Center this fall after receiving approval yesterday from a Carroll County zoning board.The three-member Board of Zoning Appeals made its unanimous decision after hearing 3 1/2 hours of testimony from opponents who said they feared for the safety of children in the area and supporters who said sportsmen need a place to target shoot.Almost 30 people attended the hearing in the County Office Building.Pikesville attorney Jay L. Liner and Arbutus homebuilder Joseph R. Twilley plan to open Top Gun, which will be the first indoor range in Carroll, in September or October, said their attorney, Clark R. Shaffer of Westminster.

The county Board of Zoning Appeals shot down a proposal to turn a Reese-area industrial building into an indoor shooting range.The board, in a written decision released Dec. 28, declined to establish the indoor range as a conditional use and denied a variance for reduction in the lot size and distance requirements.Glen A. Swain of Frizzelburg had proposed using an industrial building on Bethel Road for an indoor range because of crowded conditions and membership waiting lists at Carroll's outdoor shooting ranges.

Some South Carroll residents plan to appeal in Carroll Circuit Court this week a county zoning board's decision to allow an indoor shooting range at the Eldersburg Business Center.Baltimore attorney Dennis Hoover, a South Carroll resident, agreed to waive his fee to handle the appeal, resident Shelley Counts said.Residents will raise money to pay court costs, she said. She wasn't sure what the costs would be.Mr. Hoover is a partner in Siskind, Grady, Rosen and Hoover, said Cynthia K. Hitt, a senior partner in the firm who is helping with the appeal.

An outdoor shooting range -- a proposal that has met neighborhood opposition in a half-dozen locations in the past decade -- could be built that would address residents' concerns about noise and safety, the Carroll County Recreation and Parks director said yesterday.A range could be equipped with baffling and earthen berms to muffle noise, Director Richard J. Soisson said at a Recreation and Parks board meeting at Piney Run Park."The shooting range is still alive," he said."It's not well, though," replied board member Scott Davis.

An outdoor shooting range -- a proposal that has met neighborhood opposition in a half-dozen locations in the past decade -- could be built that would address residents' concerns about noise and safety, the Carroll County Recreation and Parks director said yesterday.A range could be equipped with baffling and earthen berms to muffle noise, Director Richard J. Soisson said at a Recreation and Parks board meeting at Piney Run Park."The shooting range is still alive," he said."It's not well, though," replied board member Scott Davis.

The Westminster Planning Commission gave its blessing last night to indoor shooting ranges in industrial areas, bringing would-be range owner James Harris one step closer to his goal.The commission also heard a request to speed public water and sewer service to a 31-acre property on Gist Road where owner Nicholas Samios plans to build 43 single-family houses.Mr. Harris plans to open an indoor shooting range, probably in the county air business center on Route 97, although he has refused to confirm his planned location.

A Westminster man wants to build Carroll County's first indoor shooting range, reportedly at the Air Business Center.James Harris' plan comes four months after the county zoning appeals board rejected an indoor range proposed by Herbert Starlings, a Finksburg resident and gun hobbyist. Mr. Starlings wanted to open the range in the former Westminster Knit Co. factory at 535 Old Westminster Pike.Mr. Harris took the first step on his plan last week with a request for a change in Westminster's city code to allow indoor shooting and archery ranges in areas zoned for restricted industrial use.A range would require a special exception, which means a request to build one would automatically trigger a public hearing.

After weeks of controversy and debate, the Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals on Friday rejected an application to open an indoor shooting range in Westminster.Finksburg resident Herbert Starlings, who has been shooting as a hobby for 30 years, wanted to open the range in a portion of the former Westminster Knit Corp. factory at 535 Old Westminster Pike.Under county regulations, the indoor shooting range required board approval because the former sewing factory is in a restricted industrial zone.

An indoor shooting range proposed by the Carroll County Recreation and Parks Board this week would serve the educational and training needs of sportsmen, the president of a Carroll sports group said yesterday."

The ever tightening squeeze on Carroll County's limited recreational facilities was underlined again this month with public squabbles over a proposed private indoor pistol range in Westminster and the disputed use of Mount Airy school ball fields.The separate cases reflect the need for more comprehensive recreational planning in Carroll. The answers are not simple: the conflict between recreation needs and other public rights requires carefully studied case-by-case resolution.In the case of a proposed shooting range on Westminster Pike near Md. 97, the demand for a firearms training facility clashes with the rights of nearby residents to safety and tranquility.

Because an indoor shooting range would be too costly and an outdoor range at Hoods Mill Landfill too controversial, the county Recreation and Parks Board agreed Wednesday to explore other sites for an outdoor range."

An indoor shooting range is still looking for a home in Carroll County. News that the pending lease between Eldersburg Business Center and Top Gun Indoor Range Inc. was cancelled means Carroll's gun owners will not have any new ranges -- indoor or outdoor -- to practice their hobby any time soon.Numerous attempts by the county to locate an outdoor public range have been unsuccessful. Proposed sites at county-owned property at Hoods Mills landfill and Union Mills as well as state-owned land at Morgan Run Natural Environment Area were all rejected because of strong community opposition.