The details
The proposed change was taken up and approved by the Bartonville Planning & Zoning Commission during its meeting on Oct. 2. The Town Council is set to consider the change at its meeting Oct. 15. Under the change, residents on agriculturally zoned property will be allowed to shoot blanks on their land with prior approval from the town marshal.
Stacey Smith said at the Oct. 2 meeting that mounted shooting practice has been held on her property for about the last seven years, during which time the sport has grown significantly. She added that the practices don’t happen often, but with more people moving into town, it should be known that blanks are shot on her property for mounted shooting practice and that this is currently allowed.
If approved, the change would also come with some restrictions that Stacey Smith said would not directly impact her practices. For example, the shooting would have to take place on a tract of land of 50 acres or more, and more than 1,000 feet away from the property line of a public tract of land, a school, hospital or commercial daycare center.
What they’re saying
“It hasn’t changed anything that we do,” Smith said of the proposal. “We don’t shoot a lot.”
She added that the sound caused by fired blanks has been measured to ensure it doesn’t break any town ordinances regarding noise. She also said the training takes place about once a month, and the shooting only lasts about 45 minutes. The practice also doesn’t last later than 7 p.m. and they never start before 9 a.m.
Smith said many of the neighbors she’s spoken to haven’t had any issues with the practice. One resident wrote to the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission in support of the change. However, all of this started because a neighbor complained that firearms were being shot on the Smith property.
The change was approved by the Bartonville Planning & Zoning Commission with one vote in opposition.
The takeaway
If the change is approved by the council, the use of blank cartridges would be permitted on agriculturally zoned land for training or exhibition with prior notification to the town marshal “in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the property,” according to town documents.
