Amid Efforts to Birth Comprehensive Plan, Warren County Planning Commission Hears Concerns about Location of Sheriff’s Firearms Training Range

The Warren County Planning Commission gathered at the Warren County Government Center at 220 North Commerce Avenue on the evening of Wednesday, August 14, beginning their work session at 6 p.m. and beginning their regular meeting at 7 p.m., which they concluded in advance of their projected 9 p.m. adjournment. In that work session, under the leadership of Planner Kelly Wahl and Planning Director Matt Wendling, the commission reviewed several chapters in a draft of the county’s comprehensive plan, which Wendling hopes to bring to a state of readiness by December of this year. During the regular meeting, the commission heard once again from concerned citizens about the proposed location of a firearms training range for the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

The Warren County Planning Commission executes a work session prior to their regular meeting on the evening of Wednesday, August 14. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

Warren County is required by state law to have a comprehensive plan. “In the preparation of a comprehensive plan,” reads Section 15.2-2223, “the commission shall make careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of the existing conditions and trends of growth, and of the probable future requirements of its territory and inhabitants. The comprehensive plan shall be made to guide and accomplish a coordinated, adjusted, and harmonious development of the territory, which will, in accordance with present and probable future needs and resources, best promote the health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare of the inhabitants, including the elderly and persons with disabilities.”

Having completed their work session, the Warren County Planning Commission prepares to conduct a regular meeting in the Warren County Government Center.

A key target audience of the comprehensive plan will be developers who read it to determine whether Warren County is a good place for them to invest. In preparing the sixth chapter, which addresses economic development, including analysis of the number employed, the number unemployed, and the number retired, the commission is well aware that this data will be crucial for developers as they make their calculations. The seventh chapter, regarding infrastructure and containing data relevant to transportation, will be submitted to VDOT for approval; VDOT’s approval for chapters on infrastructure is also required by law. Surveying the citizens is an important part of the process and a key ingredient in keeping the plan updated. Much of that can be conducted virtually. Staff intends to develop a website where the plan can be reviewed and input given.

During the public presentation portion of the regular meeting, the presentations from concerned citizens focused on the potential dangers and inconveniences to those living near the Bentonville transfer station if the Sheriff’s Office receives permission to install a firearms training range on the transfer station’s property. These concerns echoed those expressed at the July 10 planning commission meeting when the item was tabled until further information can be gathered, namely whether the transfer station is truly the ideal location for the range. This information is needed before the commission forwards the item to the board of supervisors with a recommendation for approval or denial. The item was not on Wednesday’s agenda. Still, the residents who spoke voiced concerns, including noise pollution, an insufficient buffer between the proposed range and an adjoining property, and the danger imposed on local children by inmates released from prison to do labor for the Office.

The commissioners are now required to balance the concerns of the residents in that area with the needs of the Sheriff’s Office, where a commute to receive training in the absence of a local, dedicated firearms training range is proving to be costly and time-inefficient with the result of “minimum” instead of “complete” training. Asked if he had received any intelligence from the sheriff about the status of the application, Wendling said he had not yet heard anything. During comments from the commissioners, Commissioner Hugh Henry admitted that the lack of buffer space and noise pollution are concerning. He continues to believe that the concern expressed at the July meeting about lead poisoning in the ground resulting from the accumulation of bullets is not based on good reasoning. Also, Chairman Robert Myers apologized to those in attendance for failing to respond effectively to an inappropriate statement made by a citizen during the July public hearing in which the views of those opposing the proposed location of the firearms training range were characterized as “stupid.”

With this item pending, the commission addressed other business and adjourned before 9 p.m.

Click here to watch the Warren County Planning Commission Meeting of August 14, 2024.