The Montlake Classic Clays shooting range is a step closer to reopening after county officials approved a special permit Monday.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission voted to endorse the special permit to the shooting range, which is on Mowbray Pike. The Hamilton County Commission will consider the request in May.
The range closed in December after Hamilton County Chancery Court had ruled against the club, said Joe Manuel, the club’s attorney. The county had sued the club when the county realized the club did not have a special permit, he said, but the club had been in operation since the mid-1970s.
Stan Deprow, who lives near the range, spoke against the special permit. He said the club became noisier after 2004 when the owners started a sport clay shooting venture, which operated near his property line.
Sport clay shooting is noisier than skeet shooting, which never was a problem, he said. A noise test on his property showed a decibel level of about 77, Mr. Deprow said.
But the range’s owners said they made the range safer and less noisy.
Dawn and Craig Sheaffer said they stopped allowing rifles and pistols to be fired, which made the range safer. Banning pistol and rifle fire also reduced the noise, they said.
Mr. Deprow had sued the club and Hamilton County in 2008 because of the noise. He dropped the suit against the county and he is now seeking legal fees against the club, he said.
Trevor Fuller, a teacher at Soddy-Daisy High School, spoke in favor of the club. The facility is the only place in the county for the school’s clay shooting team to practice, he said. Some students have been driving to Polk County to practice since the club closed.
The Tennessee General Assembly in March changed state law to grandfather in shooting ranges such as Montlake. The law specifies the location of clay target shooting stations, a point of debate for Montlake’s neighbors.
