Couple moves in next to 60 year-old Boy Scout camp, complains about noise from shooting range

By Chad D. Baus

Northeast Ohio media outlets are reporting on a Henrietta Township (Lorain Co.) trustee meeting that heard complaints from a couple who bought their "dream house" next to the 60 year-old Firelands (Boy) Scout Reservation and shooting range.

"It's constant banging all day long," Deborah Banyas whined to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Even if we go in the house, close the windows and turn up music, it's loud. It never stops."

Banyas and her husband, Terry Speer, live on their 20-acre property, home to their Riverdog Art Studio, where the two artists make sculptures. The story says they have a hard time working with all the racket coming from the 450-acre reservation next door.

Is it just me, or is this something akin to moving in next to railroad tracks and complaining about the trains?

From the Plain Dealer story:

Banyas said the noise is at its worst during the annual six weeks of summer camp, which ended recently, when the shooting goes on all day long. But the noise also continues much of the year, she said. It got worse three years ago when the camp put up a metal roof over part of the range.

"Now the gunfire echoes even louder," she said.

...Camp Executive Director Barry Norris said the camp has been there for more than 60 years and the Scouts have worked hard to be good neighbors. The shooting ranges are needed so the Scouts can qualify for merit badges.

He has been trying to quiet the din.

"We put up wooden panels to deaden the noise and covered some with
carpet. . . . We moved our shotgun range to the other side of the
camp. We eliminated the black powder gun demonstrations because they were too loud," he said. "I don't know what else we could do."

But according to the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, the neighbors call these efforts "half-hearted", and claim more could be done.

Rick Cloud, program director for the Scouts’ Heart of Ohio Council, which serves Lorain and eight other counties, told trustees that Banyas and Speer put loudspeakers on the edge of the property, apparently to harass the Scouts, and that he cursed in the presence of children.

Banyas said the loudspeakers were used "only once" - on Independence Day weekend! According to the Chronicle-Telegram, Speer did admit to using a “rather nasty” word to camp Ranger Dan Thomas while calling him a liar:

Lorain County Sheriff’s Deputy J.D. Rico, who attended the meeting, said no one called the Sheriff’s Office about the loudspeakers on July 4. He distributed copies of various laws at the meeting and said he would have taken anyone to jail for persisting in disorderly conduct if they refused to remove the loudspeakers. The township does not have a noise ordinance, but excessive noise after 9 p.m. could be considered disturbing the peace, Rico said.

According to the report, Cloud told trustees that shooting happens 9 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. on weekdays during the five weeks camp is open. Children also shoot 7:30 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday nights during camp.

He said there also is shooting six to 10 Saturdays a year and one day of shooting when the Young Marines come to camp. He said some church groups also shoot there and that the camp has a nuisance permit to cull the geese population.

Again, from the Chronicle-Telegram:

As the meeting progressed, Assistant County Prosecutor Gerald Innes advised trustees about whether the shooting range is a protected grandfathered use, which means it is exempt from township zoning laws because it predates them.

Innes said modifications to the range might put its protected grandfathered use in doubt, but he couldn’t say at this time. He said residents could file a complaint and the prosecutor’s office would investigate, but that might mean pulling investigators off more pressing cases.

The issue could end up in court, where a judge would likely order mediation, Innes said.

Among those speaking on behalf of the Scouts was Tom Quinn of Camden Township, who said, “The children who use this enjoy it immensely.”

The story notes that three Henrietta Township trustees have inspected the range and were satisfied with what they found. Township Trustee Butch Born said he had hoped the trustees would be able to broker peace at the meeting. Trustees got a promise from both sides that they would continue talking.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.