Editor

Even as supporters of an outdoor firing range celebrated their victory shortly after a meeting of the Yadkin County Zoning Board of Adjustments, an attorney for opponents of the site said he will likely appeal the decision to Yadkin County Superior Court.

"I'll have to meet with my clients and see what the group would like to do," said Bowen C. Houff, a Winston-Salem attorney. "But it's more than likely that we will file an appeal."

Houff made his comments shortly after the county's board of adjustments voted 4-1 Monday night to rule that a proposed firing range on a 44-acre tract in the Wyo community owned by Yadkin Commissioner Chairwoman Kim Phillips and her husband, Keith, can proceed without the need for a conditional-use permit. That's because the board sided with a recent recommendation by County Zoning Administrator Kim Bates that the firing range — which would be used by the Forbush High School Youth Hunter Education Team — is not a commercial or business enterprise and thus is permitted on the Phillips' property, which is zoned for Residential/Agricultural use.

The 44 acres is part of a combined 102 acres that the Phillips own on Pine Knoll Drive, off Georgia Road.

After the meeting that spilled out into the lobby of the planning and permits conference room, Kim Phillips said that she felt vindicated by the zoning board's decision. And she denied allegations by Houff and others that the decision to volunteer her property as a temporary location for the high school hunter safety team was politically motivated or that she had used her position to persuade county officials to rule in her favor.

"The kids who were displaced have a place to shoot," Phillips said. "This is about helping some deserving kids . . . We did exactly what we were told to do. We acted in due diligence. We didn't want to appear to have special privileges. This was not for political gain."

Supporters of the decision to move the high school's hunter's safety team to the Phillips property in the Wyo community — a sparsely populated community in southeastern Yadkin County — say they are grateful that the team will have a place to practice for about a year until Forbush has a new permanent location. The school was forced to find a new home after construction began on a new middle school next to the high school.

Yadkin County Schools Assistant Superintendent Gary McDonald said that the hunter safety team is part of the school's extracurricular activities. Admission to the team, he said, is restricted to high school students who meet the team's admission criteria.

"It is not open to the public in general," McDonald said. "And there is no business or commercial aspect."

Troy and Vonnie Wood, who are developing Big Wood Farms, a large upscale residential development on more than 270 acres off Georgia Road, contend that the firing range will devalue their properties and that the range, which is less than 3,000 feet from one of their residences, poses a safety risk.

Houff, who is representing the Woods and Andrea and Bradley Underdal, maintained that the firing range was in fact a business enterprise — something that Bates first suggested in his initial assessment and then rescinded after consulting with County Attorney James Graham and County Manager Eric Wilhelm.

"If the Phillips wish to construct a firing range, there are no setback requirements," Houff said. "There are no zoning regulations for this proposed use."

Bradley Underdal said that he visited one of the high school hunter safety team's practices. Afterwards, he concluded that the noise would devalue his property

"Sometimes there are two dozen or more (shooters) there," Underdal said. "That's considerably more than what I could find in available commercial ranges."

County Attorney Ben Harding reminded the board of adjustments that their job was merely to enforce the law, regardless of whether they agreed or disagreed with the definition of a firing range set out in the county's zoning ordinance.

"There is no evidence that this firing range is designed as a business or commercial enterprise for public use," Harding said in his closing argument. "This is for a specific group of kids for a school activity . . . This is a permitted use in RA . . . You've got to uphold it based on what the law is."

Board members voted 4-1 to uphold Bates' recommendation with Chairman Charles Robert Wooten casting the lone dissenting vote.

"This does not give the Phillips the right to create something detrimental or a disorderly development," Wooten said. "This is not a public necessity. There are other firing ranges in the community in this school district. I still believe this does not conform to the county's land use plan."

McDonald reminded the board and members in the audience that the Phillips property is only a temporary location. A permanent firing range, he said, should be in place within a year.